COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Dockery on target for King College

BRISTOL, Tenn. – It’s been nearly 10 months since King College’s Mark Dockery put on a memorable shooting display.

On a late-February day at the King College Student Center, Dockery was in the zone and didn’t seem to miss. He nailed five consecutive 3-pointers and scored 17 points in the final 10 minutes.

Dockery finished with 25 points, earned tournament MVP honors and helped King wipe out a 22-point deficit to post an 86-85 win and take the Appalachian Athletic Conference tourney title.

It was the finest moment of the former Twin Springs High School star’s collegiate career.

“It was a great game, great comeback,” Dockery said. “I’m glad I was part of it and I’m glad our team got to experience it. But the game was last year and this is this year.”

It will be a season of transition for the Tornado.

The school has left the NAIA and AAC and is in a provisional year of NCAA Division II play. Several key injuries occurred in the preseason and the team is adjusting to life with a new point guard for the third time in three years.

DeShaud Johnson transferred to East Tennessee State after serving as King’s point man in 2007-08, while last season’s point guard – Kyle Savely – left
school to return home to Indiana and focus on his burgeoning music career.

That meant that Craig McCargo, David Batson and Brandon Goss entered the preseason competing for the starting point-guard spot. McCargo has seen the
most minutes running the offense.

“It’s always hard adjusting to a new point guard,” Dockery said. “But we do a lot of stuff in practice with our point guards. All our stuff is geared toward getting a good relationship with our point guard so we can learn to play to their strengths.”

Dockery’s strength is scoring – plain and simple. He did that better than any player in Southwest Virginia during his senior season at Twin Springs and made a quick adjustment to the college level.

He was the AAC freshman of the year two years ago and followed that with his lights out AAC tournament performance last year. He’s averaging 14.3 points through the current season’s first four games and pumped in a team-high 19 points in an exhibition loss to NCAA Division I Middle Tennessee State last
month.

“We’ve got Dock back and we expect big things from him,” said King coach George Pitts in the preseason.

While Dockery is ready to move on and focus on the current task at hand, he did spend a few minutes reflecting on his time with the Tornado just days before the season opener last month.

“King’s a great place,” Dockery said. “I’ve really enjoyed myself here. We have, probably, what I feel like the hardest-working coaching staff, I would say, in the area. They work hard to get us ready to do what we need to do every year and I think that shows with what we accomplish on the floor.

“They’re always doing something. You never find one of our coaches not working.”

And you rarely find Dockery not scoring.

King Men
Nickname: Tornado
Conference: NCAA Div. II independent
2008-09 Record: 24-8
2009-10 Record (through Wednesday): 2-2
Top Returnees: Mark Dockery (6-4, Jr.); J.T. Blair (6-2, Sr.); Elisha Murray (6-3, Sr.)
Outlook: It was a rough preseason for King, which was bit by the injury bug and had new faces at several key positions. However, veteran head coach George Pitts has overcome those obstacles and molded his team into a solid unit through four games. The return of Clarence Smith in the post, he was ineligible last season, has been huge thus far and the shooting of Dockery has been on target. King can’t compete in any NCAA Division II postseason tournaments, but the Tornado should make some noise in the National Christian College Athletic Association national tourney.

King Women
Nickname: Tornado
Conference: NCAA Div. II independent
2008-09 Record: 14-18
2009-10 Record (through Wednesday): 2-4
Top Returnees: Beth Raby (5-8, Sr.); Allison Bosse (6-0, soph.); Ashley Deans (5-10, jr.)
Outlook: King has six returnees from last season and nine newcomers, a good mix of experience and fresh faces for head coach Michele Williams. The team is guard-heavy and will struggle to matchup in the paint with some of its opponents. The team also must cut down on its turnovers, which has been a bane in the early stages of the season. Bosse and Deans have proven to be reliable scorers and the energetic Williams is a strong motivator, so King should improve as the season progresses.