Iowa cornerback Desmond King is still undecided about his football future.
By Danny Payne
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LOS ANGELES — Sometimes the news is no news. That’s the case when it comes to Iowa cornerback Desmond King, who said Monday he is still undecided whether he will enter the NFL draft or stay for his senior season in the drafts of Iowa City.
King, who won the Thorpe Award this month, given to the nation’s top defensive back, is still considering a variety of factors, he said. He could forgo his senior year and take his paycheck one year early, or he could hone his craft for one more year in a Hawkeye uniform.
“It’s pretty much kind of 50-50 right now,” King said. “I’m thinking about staying, there’s a good chance, but right now I honestly don’t know — it goes back and forth.”
King is focusing first and foremost on the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl, which he said would be the last check mark of his junior year showing the NFL he’s ready to play now. The Detroit East English Village product said he’s still waiting on his evaluation from the NFL Advisory Board.
King said he’s primarily leaning on his mother for support in deciding. The corner said she wants him to stay in college and finish his degree (he’d be the first family member on his mother’s side to graduate) but at the same time, she wants him to do what’s best for him.
Is that a guaranteed payday and beginning to his professional career? Is it a degree in mass communication from the University of Iowa? We won’t know until after the Rose Bowl, when King said he’ll make a decision. When, after the Rose Bowl, we’ll have to wait.
“Everybody has their own life, and I can give him my opinion if that’s what he wants, and I’ve talked to him a couple different times on a couple different occasions about ‘Hey, this is what I know,’ ” defensive coordinator Phil Parker said. “I think he has to make the right decision for himself, and I’m glad he hasn’t made that a priority right now. The biggest thing is he wants to play well in the Rose Bowl, and he wants to go out and win it. I think that’s what he’s been focused on.”
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