King Named Walter Camp All-American

Dec. 10, 2015

fbgold.jpg twitgold222-bluebird.jpg fbblack.jpg twitblack-whitebird.jpg

IOWA CITY, Iowa — University of Iowa defensive back Desmond King has been named to the Walter Camp All-America first team. The announcement was made Thursday at the Home Depot College Football Awards Show in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rose Bowl White

King was earlier named the Tatum-Woodson Big Ten Conference Defensive Back of the Year and was a first team All-Big Ten selection. King is also one of five Players to Watch for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, and is one of three finalists for the Jim Thorpe Award.

King (5-foot-11, 200-pounds), is a junior from Detroit, Michigan (East English Village HS). He is second in the nation with eight interceptions. King has multiple interceptions in two games, with two thefts in wins over Pittsburgh and Wisconsin. He is the first Hawkeye with multiple multi-interception games in a season since Tyler Sash in 2009.

King’s eight interceptions tie the Iowa single-season record, a mark previously reached by Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick (1939) and Lou King (1981). His seventh interception of the season was returned 88 yards for a touchdown in a win over Maryland, the second touchdown return of his career (Indiana, 2014).

King has recorded 67 tackles, with one tackle for loss, and 12 pass break-ups to go with his eight interceptions. King has also handled kickoff returns (25.6) and punt returns (12.7) throughout the season.

King was named the Jim Thorpe national Defensive Player of the Week and Big Ten Conference Defensive Player of the Week following Iowa’s win at Wisconsin.

King is the 18th Hawkeye to earn Walter Camp All-America first team honors, following offensive lineman Brandon Scherff from a year ago. Previous Hawkeyes recognized include Aubrey Devine (1921), Nile Kinnick (1939), Calvin Jones (1954, 1955), Alex Karras (1957), Randy Duncan (1958), Reggie Roby (1981, 1982), Larry Station (1984, 1985), Chuck Long (1985), Dave Haight (1988), Jared DeVries (1998), Brad Banks (2002), Dallas Clark (2002), Eric Steinbach (2002), Robert Gallery (2003), Shonn Greene (2008), Adrian Clayborn (2010), and Scherff (2014).

Randy Duncan was named the Walter Camp Player of the Year in 1958 and Banks was a finalist for that honor in 2002. Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz was the Walter Camp National Coach of the Year in 2002.

Members of the Walter Camp All-America team are recognized in New Haven, Connecticut, on Saturday, Jan. 16 on the campus of Yale University.

Iowa (12-1) will meet Stanford (11-2) in the 2016 Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day (4:10 p.m. CT) in Pasadena, California. Iowa completed a perfect regular season with a school record 12 wins, winning the West Division before falling to Michigan State in the Big Ten Championship (16-13).

GameisWon2
Print Friendly Version