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Florida Tech’s Paulette King’s Dominant Play for Panthers Earned Her All-American Honors | – SpaceCoastDaily.com


SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME: King Earned spot on the SSC’s Silver Anniversary Team

SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020: When Florida Tech women’s basketball coach John Reynolds first met Paulette King in May of 1991 he immediately recognized that she was a unique athlete and an extraordinary find for the Panther’s program.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – When Florida Tech women’s basketball coach John Reynolds first met Paulette King in May of 1991 he immediately recognized that she was a unique athlete and an extraordinary find for the Panther’s program.

A native Jamaican, King did not start playing basketball until the age of 19. She had, however, previously excelled at volleyball, field hockey and track.

She adapted quickly to basketball and became one of Jamaica’s top players in her first year.

King played for the national team for four years before she was recruited and signed by Phillips Junior College in Borger, Texas where she dominated, averaging over 20 points and 8 rebounds a game and was named to the all-conference and all-region teams.

She was a legitimate major-college prospect, but because she was 27 years old she was ineligible to compete in Division I due to the NCAA’s rule that did not allow anyone over 24 to compete in Division I.

That rule was a godsend for Coach Reynolds and Florida Tech women’s basketball as she played for the Panthers her junior and senior seasons.

Florida Tech basketball coach John Reynolds, above being congratulated after his 500th win, has been with Florida Tech’s women’s basketball program since it began 35 years ago and knows talent when he sees it. When Reynolds first met Paulette King in May of 1991 he immediately recognized that she was a unique athlete and an extraordinary find for the Panther’s program.

While leading the Panthers to a pair of Sunshine State Conference regular-season conference tournament championships and their first two appearances in the NCAA Division II Tournament, she was selected first-team All-America and the Sunshine State Conference player-of-the-year both years.

She led the conference in scoring as a junior (29.5) and a senior (27.1), the two highest averages in league history.

She also stands one-two in the Sunshine State Conference in most points in a season with 855 as a junior and 813 as a senior and most field goals in a season with 322 as a junior and 310 as a senior.

Her achievements as a player earned her induction into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame, the SSC Hall of Fame and a spot on the SSC’s Silver Anniversary Team.

The 1993 Florida Tech graduate with a degree in Business Administration, also holds a degree in Criminology from Florida Atlantic University. She was inducted into the Florida Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.

She has had successful careers in coaching and filmmaking.

“FIT pushed me to be better in every aspect of life,” King said.  “I was a real student-athlete. It wasn’t all about basketball. It was about life, and I loved every minute of it!”

Coach Reynolds said the intensity and desire that she used to play with has now been translated to her everyday life and always had a way to meet every challenge head-on.

“Coach Reynolds always said everybody fed off my energy and will power,” she said. “I still like to think of myself as that person.”

Paulette King is a 1993 Florida Tech graduate with a degree in Business Administration and also holds a degree in Criminology from Florida Atlantic University. “FIT pushed me to be better in every aspect of life,” King said.  “I was a real student-athlete. It wasn’t all about basketball. It was about life, and I loved every minute of it!”

THE 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Banquet and Induction Ceremony will take place at the Cocoa Beach Country Club on Friday, May 8.

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT the 2020 SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME, call 321-323-4460 or 321-615-8111 or e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com

CLICK HERE TO SEE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame is located in the main athletic building on the Melbourne Campus of Eastern Florida State College. Portraits and biographies of the Hall of Famers are displayed on the wall in the building’s main hallway that runs parallel to the gym and outside the athletic department offices. Memorabilia items and related sports artifacts will be added to the display over time.

The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame selection committee announced an impressive array of outstanding individuals to be inducted into the 2020 Class of the Hall of Fame.

The 2020 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet and Sports Awards will be held Friday, May 8 at the Cocoa Beach Country Club.

The festivities include a meet and greet with the area’s sports royalty beginning at 6 p.m., and the dinner and induction proceeding will start at 6:45 p.m. and includes compelling video tributes of each of the inductees.

The 2020 Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame induction event, and the 2020 High School Breakfast of Champions recognition awards, are sponsored by Health First, Erdman Automotive, All Points, Clear Choice Health Care, Savings Safari, Friday Night Locker Room and Rock Paper Simple.

The Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame includes an impressive array of outstanding individuals to be inducted into the 2020 Class of the Hall of Fame.

Dozens of nominees were considered in four categories including professional sports, college sports, high school sports and amateur sports.

Special honorary recognition will also be bestowed upon individuals and teams that have made significant contributions to sports on the Space Coast.

Space Coast Daily created the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in 2012 and has so far inducted more than 160 of Brevard County’s most outstanding athletes, coaches and sports personalities.

Serving on the committee are Space Coast Daily President & Publisher Tom Palermo, Vice President Giles Malone, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Jim Palermo, Managing Editor Zach Clark, the Friday Night Locker Room’s Steve Wilson and Orville Susong, former Health First COO Larry Garrison and Amateur Athletic Union Vice President Rusty Buchanan.

“The list of inductees for 2020 induction include athletes and coaches everybody knows – and some that may have been forgotten with the passing of time,” said Tom Palermo.

FOR INFORMATION about the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame, or to make a reservation, e-mail Contact@SpaceCoastDaily.com or call 321-615-8111.

SPACE COAST DAILY TV: Tim Wakefield talks about his induction into the first class of the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame.

SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020

• PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Jamel Dean, Football; Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Wrestling; Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Football; Mark Lake, Skateboarding; Juwaan Taylor, Football

• COLLEGE CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Derek Hamm, Football; Paulette King, Basketball; Dylan Lewis, Soccer; Melanie Murphy, Softball

• PREP CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Lexy Denaburg, Volleyball; Apryl Bigham Nickson, Swimming; Andi Sellers, Soccer

• AMATEUR/RECREATION CATEGORY INDUCTEE: Peter Blount, Track & Field; Karina Villegas, Sled Hockey; Caylor Williams, Wrestling

• COACHING CATEGORY INDUCTEES: Sean Ballard, Wrestling; Doug Butler, Cross County and Track; Aubin Goporo, Basketball; Gerald Hodgin, Football; Bill Sinclair, Softball; Don Smith, Basketball

• SPORTS DEVELOPMENT INDUCTEE: Loren McClanahan

• LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT INDUCTEE: Clint Hurdle

• SPORTS OFFICIAL INDUCTEES: Ted Ruta

• SPORTS JOURNALISM INDUCTEES: Steve Vaughn

• SPORTS AMBASSADOR AWARD INDUCTEE: Congressman Bill Posey

• CHALLENGER AWARDS INDUCTEES: Brevard Special Olympics

• TEAM OF THE YEAR: 2019 Satellite High Cross Country

• LEGACY CHAMPIONS: TBA

• SPECIAL TRIBUTE: TBA

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MEMBERS OF THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME

CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS





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