Jan. 15, 2008
It's seven day before Christmas and the Nittany Lions are gathering for practice in preparation for their next game. They filter into the Bryce Jordan Center two or three at a time on a sunny day many Pennsylvanians might call pleasant for the season. Junior forward Schyler King has another word for it - "cold."
Who could blame him, on this 34-degree day in "Happy Valley," his hometown of El Paso, Texas, located near the borders of Mexico and New Mexico, was basking under sunny skies at a pleasant 65 degrees.
Wrapped in a large black coat with the fur lined hood pulled over his head, the transfer from Tyler (Texas) Junior College is still adapting to the change of temperature which is the by product of his move 2,000 miles northeast from the western plains of Texas. Luckily, the rest of his transition has been smooth. It's something he's had practice at after all.
The son of an army colonel, King has lived in several locations and has learned to make each feel like home.
"I've lived in Germany, Louisiana, Georgia and Texas," He says with a smile "I lived in Texas since I was about 11 though, so I was more established there.
Born in Georgia, King lived overseas in Germany for a time between the ages of six and eight before returning to the United States and moving between Louisiana and Georgia before landing in Texas.
"It helps you adapt better," he said of the experience. "If you go somewhere, you can just feel like it's at home."
Home was a normal place he says, with none of the regiment or overt discipline one might envision at the home of an army colonel.
"My dad never was one of those army type persons at home," the laid back and easy-going King says. "It was always just a normal life. The army was just a job."
A job that took his father, T.K., overseas to the hot bed of fighting in Iraq on two different occasions and away from a family of four, which consisted of his mother, Ann, a special education teacher, and older sister Ebone, who made Schyler an uncle last year.
"He was in the Gulf War and he was in the Iraq War," King said. "He was in Iraq about six months and he was in Korea once for about a year."
Meanwhile, King honed his game earning first team All-District and All-City honors averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds as a 6-3 senior center for Andress High School in El Paso. He then moved on to Tyler where he grew two inches and developed his perimeter game. An ankle injury slowed his freshman campaign, but he came back healthy in his sophomore season hitting 54 three-pointers and averaging 10.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He really started to find his game late in that year recording a double-double in eight of the last 12 games and posting a pair of 21-point outings.
Soon he was joining his teammates in matriculating to a Division 1 program. He still keeps in regular contact with former Tyler teammates who now play at Bradley, Evansville, Arkansas State and Baylor. They, like he, are adapting well to their new environments and enjoying their new teammates and surroundings.
If it just wasn't for that cold weather.
"I got a huge coat, very heavy," King said with a smile. "I have my coat on where ever I go. I have to."