George King throws down a one-handed dunk during a pregame warm-up his freshman year. As a sophomore, King has opted to redshirt the 2014-2015 season, a decision head coach Tad Boyle announced during media day on Nov. 5, 2014. (Matt Sisneros/CU Independent)

In last week’s media day press conference, Colorado men’s basketball head coach Tad Boyle dropped the bomb that sophomore guard George King will be redshirting during the upcoming season.

In the 27 games he played last season, King averaged 1.5 points per game and 1.5 rebounds per game. Although King thought he improved in the offseason, the decision came as a surprise to many.

Toward the end of last year, assistant coach Jean Prioleau approached him about the option, but King brushed the idea aside at first.

“Coach [Prioleau] and I talked about it before, and this was my freshman year back in March or February,” King said. “He was kind of hinting it to me and I was kind of blowing it off like ‘yeah, right.’ But I guess you get wiser as the months go by.”

But he said that, in the end, the decision to redshirt was entirely his own.

“I felt it was better for me [to redshirt],” King said. “I definitely would have seen the floor this year, but I think if I do sit this year, it’ll really benefit me this year, and that’s what I want to do. That was my biggest reason why.”

It was no easy decision, but King believed the benefits that come from sitting on the sidelines would outweigh his concerns.

“[The decision] was tough, but I talked to my parents and told them what I was thinking about, I talked about this with Coach Boyle, and sometimes you’ve just got to weather the storm,” he said. “That’s what I’m doing, and I know it’s going to pay off in the end.”

When he approached Boyle about the decision this year, Boyle supported it completely. But that’s not to say King won’t play at all this year. If conditions permit, he may see floor time early on in the non-conference part of the season.

“Say we do have a year like last year, and a lot of guys go down this month or next month. I might suit up,” King said. “Hopefully that doesn’t happen, knock on wood. I hope everyone stays healthy.”

Of course, if injuries happen later on in the season, he won’t be able to play.

Before he made the final decision, King talked to fellow Buff and teammate Wesley Gordon, who redshirted during his freshman season two years ago.

“We talked about it,” King said. “He told me it was hard for him as well to sit a year, but he’s happy he did it because it’s obviously working out for him. That’s kind of how I want to be. I know it’s going to suck not being out there right now and fighting with my brothers every night.”

But in the end, King believes playing at a high level down the road will be worth the wait.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alissa Noe at Alissa.Noe@colorado.edu.