Editor’s Note: This is the next installment of a series of profiles about Montana State’s recently signed football recruits. The Bobcats signed 15 players during the second signing period that culminated in February.
Elijah King’s affinity for shoes first began in eighth grade.
Five years ago, the Elk Grove, California native first started paying attention to sneakers. He loved the style and the artistry. He started thinking about designing his own.
“I’m an artistic guy so I thought I could do this too,” King said in an interview in March. “By my senior year (at Consumnes Prep), I’ve been customizing shoes for a few months, getting orders from people, painting on shoes.
“And I plan on taking that and making it a bigger business once I hit college. And then hopefully make it with a big shoe company.”
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound athlete first landed on Montana State’s radar late during a senior year at Consumnes that saw him earn first-team All-Sacramento Metro and All-Purpose Player of the Year honors. When MSU running backs coach DeNarius McGhee first pitched King on Montana State, the top-notch engineering program interested King more than any other factor.
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“What really caught my eye was the academic aspect of the college,” King said. “Coach McGhee explained they built a brand new facility for the engineering program. Knowing I want to be an engineer and ultimately I want to design shoes for a major shoe company, I knew mechanical engineering would be the right fit for me. Knowing they have a new building and they are very prestigious in their academics, I thought there was no other place better to go.
“Plus, they have a great football program so I’m getting the best of both worlds.”
King was one of 15 players to sign with Montana State on National Signing Day the first Wednesday in February. The two-way standout notched 107 tackles on defense while catching 33 passes for 583 yards and six touchdowns for the Wolfpack. He is slated to play defense at Montana State.
“Elijah is a very versatile player,” Montana State head coach Jeff Choate said on signing day. “We see him as a defensive back but he’s also a very good slot receiver.
“He’s one of the better athletes in the Sacramento area. He was a standout in the high and low hurdles, and he’s a really high academic achiever. He’s a prospective engineering student so Montana State is a great fit for him, and he’s also a very creative artist. He’s an outstanding fit for our program.”
King’s production on the football field and his standout times on the track — he qualified for the California state meet in the 300-meter hurdles last spring — helped him attract interest during his senior year. He chose Montana State over offers from Big Sky Conference schools Sacramento State and Cal Poly along with Division II schools Western Oregon and Azusa Pacific.
The offer from up North came “really unexpectedly”, King said. Toward the end of his senior season last fall, he went to a meeting with one of his coaches and McGhee was there to offer him a scholarship after limited prior contact.
By the last weekend of January, King was making his first trip to Montana for his official visit alongside a group of fellow prospects that ended up choosing to become Bobcats.
“The environment up there is a little different than out here but it’s something I can get used to definitely,” King said. “Knowing that Montanans are very outdoors oriented, I’m a great outdoorsman, like to go hunting, like to go fishing. Knowing people in Montana are really heavy in that in general brought a smile to my face.
“There’s a lot of outlets in Montana. I didn’t think that when I was about to come but now I’m like wow, these people are really nice and there’s a lot of stuff to do out here. I love it.”
Former Montana State safety Shawn Borges hosted King on his official visit. Borges hails from Hawaii and King comes from Hawaiian heritage, so the two connected on that similarity. Borges has since left the program to move closer to home.
After McGhee’s initial push, King said MSU defensive coordinator Kane Ioane and Bobcat cornerbacks coach Kyle Risinger started recruiting him. Then Choate helped seal the deal.
“Knowing (Choate) is a Christian man, a God-fearing man, that made me comfortable,” King said. “And he’s easy to get familiar with. Other coaches are really strict, hard on others, try to push but Coach Choate cares about what kind of person you are and what kind of player you are. He wants to make you more familiar as a family member and more than a person that he works with.
“The entire coaching staff is great, a lot of energy, a lot of care for their people.”
His production on the football field garnered college interest. His track times, particularly in the long hurdles, are competitive as well. Last spring at the Sac Joaquin Section DII-III prelims, he ran a personal-best 39.8 seconds in the 300 hurdles. His best time this season is 40.97 despite fracturing his ankle late in football season, an injury he did not recover from until late March.
King’s hurdle time would be among the top marks in Montana this spring. Men’s track and field at the collegiate level only offers 400-meter hurdles races. As a junior, King also ran the 400 meters, meaning he has trained and competed at arguably the most mentally trying races in track and field.
“I believe it helps me most just to stay in condition,” King said. “Plus, knowing those races are really, really tough and the game gets really, really tough and you are extremely tired and you have to push through it, it’s like running those races.”
“Learning how to fight and excel through the pain helps you, especially during football when you are getting pain and you getting tired but you still have to perform at your top level of athleticism.”
The Montana State coaching staff told King he will start his career at cornerback but “might be utilized at multiple positions”, potentially as a slot receiver on offense. During the last few years in Elk Grove, King has trained at True Grit, the same place former Weber State All-American Taron Johnson cut his team.
Johnson went on to win the Big Sky Conference Defensive MVP in 2017 before being picked in the fifth round of the following year’s NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. Johnson honed his skills in the Big Sky. Now King will have a chance to follow his footsteps in the FCS league.
“It was like a load fell off my chest, like wow, this is it,” King said. “As a young kid, not a lot of people know this, I tried out for my first football team and got cut. They allowed me to practice with the squad and I had the head coach crying on the phone saying he wouldn’t have cut me. Then people started believing me. And now I’m signing a D-I scholarship to Montana State. It’s crazy and a dream come true.”
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Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
