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03/02/2016 11:00 PMKory King’s sports career at Branford has been heavily impacted by his father DJ and Kory appreciates that. Kory’s competed for Hornets’ boys’ basketball and outdoor track since entering high school and the encouragement he’s received from his dad is one of the main reasons why.
“It was really my father who pushed me through the years of playing basketball. He was my main motivator. Throughout the years, way back, I started playing around 3rd grade and I didn’t like it much, but he pushed me and now I love it,” says Kory. “My father again was a big track and field guy in high school and he told me to go for it. After a few weeks of practice, I found another calling for me.”
Kory stands at 6-foot-1 and prefers to play shooting guard with Branford boys’ hoops, although he’s suited up at every position due to his all-around ability on the floor. Kory’s skills have been sharpened by playing AAU and that’s benefited him throughout his career with the Hornets.
“I started AAU in 7th grade. I really think it’s been one of the major factors that made me the player I am today,” says Kory. “We work on the fundamentals of the game. That really helped me a ton in high school.”
Branford Head Coach Jake Palluzzi knows how important it is to have someone like Kory on his club. Kory’s always focusing on the fundamentals, while making his presence felt at both ends of the court.
“He’s our best defensive player, so he’s always playing against the best player on the other team. A lot of times, he’s out of position,” says Palluzzi. “He’s played all five positions. He’s a trooper for the betterment of the team. It’s a luxury to have a kid that can do all of these things on our team.”
Kory’s versatility was a huge asset in helping Branford get back to postseason action this winter. Competing in the playoffs is important to Kory, especially as one of the Hornets’ captains—a position that his brother held just a few years ago.
“My brother Alex showed me the way when he was a captain. He showed me what to do, how to motivate, keep spirits up, and keep everyone excited and pumped up for upcoming games. Alex, he showed me what a good captain did,” Kory says. “I was pretty pumped up when I heard I was captain. I feel like I’m a very hard worker. One of the best compliments anyone could give you is being a hard worker and that’s a good trait in being a leader.”
As a member of Branford’s outdoor track team, Kory has taken a liking to most of the jumping events. He regularly competes in the long jump, triple jump, and high jump, as well as the 110 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles. Kory wants to improve his overall skill-set in the sport in order to have another solid showing at the CIAC Decathlon at season’s end. The decathlon is a two-day, 10-event competition that features a variety of track and field events. Last spring, Kory scored 4,942 points to place 12th out of 50 athletes and finished in the top five of four events in the 400, the 1,500, plus the long jump and high jump. The decathlon is another endeavor that Kory got into because of his father.
“These things start with my father. We’re a competitive family,” says Kory. “He said I could never beat his decathlon score, so that was my goal for that year. He pushed me to do that and also my coaches thought it would be a good idea to give it a try.”
Kory came up just shy of his father’s top mark last year and so he’s pushing himself toward reaching the 5,000-point plateau in the upcoming spring season.
“I’m trying to be more versatile in all events. I’m going to be working after practice on events I didn’t do as great in,” says Kory. “The throwing events and pole vault are my weaker events. I’ll be working on those to keep improving.”