Huskers land commitment from Wisconsin transfer Kobe King

As Fred Hoiberg and his staff continue to try and rebuild their roster, Nebraska picked up a familiar and intriguing addition on Wednesday.

Kobe King, a redshirt sophomore guard who announced his decision to transfer from Wisconsin last month, gave his commitment to the Huskers despite not even taking an official visit.

King was unavailable for comment, but sources close to the situation said NU was immediately one of King's top choices after leaving the Badgers. The La Crosse, Wis., native chose Nebraska over other suiters such as Gonzaga, Xavier, and UNLV.

The 6-foot-4, 205-pound former three-star recruit played in 53 career games with nine starts for the Badgers, and he was the team's second-leading scorer with 10.0 points through 19 contests this season.

That included averaging 12.6 ppg in Big Ten Conference play, topped by a 24-point effort vs. Indiana and 21 points against Illinois. He more than doubled his scoring average this year from last season, where he had 4.8 ppg while playing in all 34 games.

King played in his first 10 games as a true freshman in 2017-18 before being sidelined for the year due to injury.

Another connection between King and Nebraska is former Iowa State guard and fellow La Crosse native Matt Thomas, who is a close friend of King's and thrived under Hoiberg with the Cyclones.

As a result, King has followed Hoiberg over the years and is well aware both of his offensive-driven style and his long track record of developing NBA talent.

King's father, Chris, played at Wake Forest and was drafted in the second round of the 1992 NBA Draft by the Seattle Supersonics, where he went on to play 15 professional seasons. He's also a cousin of Jimmy King, a member of Michigan's "Fab Five" who played 10 years of pro ball.

He's an interesting addition in a lot of ways, though, especially given the circumstances in which he left Madison.

Shortly after King announced he was transferring, reports of a UW strength coach using a racial epithet around Badger players connected the dots as to why.

There is NCAA precedent with similar situations - most notably Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields leaving Georgia for the Buckeyes - where the player has been granted immediate eligibility at his next school.

Sources told HuskerOnline.com that Nebraska does plan to pursue a waiver to make King immediately eligible for the 2020-21 season, where he would have two full seasons to play in Lincoln.

Nebraska is now currently full on scholarships for its 2020 class, though more spots could open after the season with potential roster attrition.