UH’s King to play for American Samoa national team

HONOLULU — University of Hawaii women’s basketball senior guard/forward Destiny King has been selected to play for the American Samoa national women’s basketball team, which will be competing in the 2015 Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea next month.

“I am very excited to play in the Pacific Games with the American Samoa national team,” King said. “I am all about family and I am very blessed to have the opportunity to represent the country where my family was born and raised. It is a huge honor.”

King, who is half-Samoan, helped to lead the Rainbow Wahine to the 2015 Big West regular season title this past season as a junior. She was the only Hawaii player to start in all 32 games and averaged a career-high 9.6 points and was tied for the team lead with 6.3 rebounds per game while pulling down a team- and career-high 200 rebounds overall. She also recorded 70 assists and a career-high 36 steals while earning all-Big West honorable mention honors.

King will be leaving Honolulu on Wednesday to train with the team in America Samoa until June 30 when the team departs for Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

“We are so proud that Destiny has been selected to play for the American Samoa basketball team this summer,” said UH head coach Laura Beeman.

“As a staff, we could not think of a better student-athlete to exhibit the character and integrity the state of Hawaii has come to expect from a Rainbow Wahine Basketball player.”

The American Samoa team is in Pool B with Fiji, Guam and New Caledonia. King and the American Samoa squad will begin pool play against Guam on Friday, July 3. Two days later, American Samoa will take on Fiji on July 5, followed by New Caledonia on July 6. The seeding rounds will pit teams from Pool A vs. Pool B from July 8-10 before the medal rounds July 11-12.