Sleeper tight end emerging in Louisiana

Whether it is looking for an athletic tight end or a big wide receiver, there will be a school that finds a gem in New Orleans (La.) St. James prospect Mason King. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound athlete has yet to see his first offer come in but as his athleticism gets out, he may see his options increase drastically. This summer, King has been more focused on his personal improvement than on his recruitment but that alone has kept him very busy.

"I've been working out," King said. "I've been working out with my team and by myself. I went to this Pro Camp, I went to the camp at Nichols (State), the ULM camp and I attended the Tulane Camp. At the Pro Camp I had like the fastest 40-time out of everyone out there. I ran a 4.59 but it wasn't with a stop watch. It was laser-timed so it was real accurate."

King is listed as a tight end and plays tight end for his high school but he also could have the versatility to line up at wide receiver on the next level.

"I like to score touchdowns," he said. "I'll play receiver or whatever I can. The type of school I go to, we don't really have much size. If I went to a 4A or 5A school, I may play wide receiver, but here they need me to play tight end because I'm bigger. A couple of schools like me as a wide recever but most of them say tight end."

King is being recruited by almost every school in Louisiana with the exception of LSU along with Mississippi State, Southern Miss, UConn and Auburn. However, his team's run-heavy offense has made it difficult for him to fully display his abilities.

"The type of offense we run is the wing-T offense," he said. "I finished off the season with like 15 receptions for like 225 yards and three touchdowns. I've been hearing some rumors about us switching up our offense a little more so I can get more passes but I think I'll be touching the ball more."

Despite the limited touches by King, there was plenty of success found on the field for his program. St. James made it to the Superdome where it lost to 2A power John Curtis High School in the State Championship Game. King hopes that next year will be a different outcome.

"We start on Aug. 1," he said. "I think we're going to win the State Championship. We lost to John Curtis in the Superdome last year but they aint ready for us this year."

King currently has a GPA of over 2.5 and has an ACT score over 17, putting him on pace to be fully qualified.