KING OF THE HILL

Shaun King had expected to rely on his business degree to get work when he leaves Tulane. He might not need it for a while.

King is now one of the hottest quarterbacks in college football and counting on a career in the NFL.

He has gone from struggling freshman to savvy veteran, and the Green Wave has gone from laughable loser to undefeated fame.

“No player in the country has meant more to his team’s success than Shaun King,” coach Tommy Bowden said before he left for Clemson. “He’s been remarkable.”

Tulane went 4-18 in King’s first two years, 18-4 his last two, including an 11-0 record this season.

“With Shaun in there you feel like you can score on every play,” said wide receiver JuJuan Dawson. “He can be running around, dodging and ducking and all of a sudden you see he’s got the ball to you and away you go.”

King was thrown into the Green Wave offense his freshman year when starter Aley Demarest was injured.

“It wasn’t like I didn’t know the offense yet, I didn’t even know the snap count,” King said, laughing. “I just stood there and yelled ‘Hut’ until the ball was snapped.”

Demarest recovered, but never reclaimed his job as King completed 11 of 24 passes in the game for 95 yards and went on to set a Tulane freshman record with 1,046 yards passing.

In 1996 King started all 11 games, completing 132 of 273 passes for 1,574 yards and eight touchdowns with seven interceptions. Despite King’s play, Tulane won only two games for the second year in a row.

“I really thought about trying to transfer,” King said. “It was really depressing playing here, but there weren’t a lot of schools interested in me when they learned I’d led my team to a 4-18 record.”

When Bowden showed up he told King to buy into his system and they’d both benefit.

“He worked really hard, he did everything we asked him to do,” said offensive coordinator Rich Rodriguez. “Shaun is a once-in-a-lifetime player. He’s amazing and I’m really glad I got to coach him and help make him a little better.”

More than a little.

This year Tulane climbed to ninth in the nation before ending the regular season at No. 10. The Green Wave was fourth nationally in total offense and 13th in passing offense.

The Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, King ranked sixth nationally in total offense, averaging 342.1 yards a game, 294 a game passing. He was first in passing efficiency with a 183.32 rating, breaking the old record of 176.8 held by Florida’s Danny Wuerffel.

King completed 230 of 329 passes for 3,232 yards and 36 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also became the first player in I-A history to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 500 (532) in an 11-game season.

King threw for at least one touchdown in 18 straight games. That streak included seven games this year when he played in a cast on his non-throwing hand after breaking a bone in his wrist.

“It was amazing to watch him,” said New Orleans Saints scout Hokie Gajan. “Here’s a guy in a cast working under center, in the shotgun, everywhere and going on like nothing was happening. I’ve watched a lot of quarterbacks and it’s hard to find one close to as good as King, let alone better.”

King, who is just 6-feet, hopes what he did the last two years will boost his stature enough to get him a call on draft day.

“Even with a Tulane degree I don’t think I could count on earning $100,000 my first year somewhere outside the NFL,” said King, who will graduate in May with a degree in marketing.

Gajan expects King to be drafted, although he admits King doesn’t fit the popular NFL prototype.

“He doesn’t measure up on paper to what a lot of people want,” Gajan said. “But he sure looks big out on the field. He’s got a big-time arm, he’s smart and he’s cool. He just gets it done.”

Even with the undefeated season and remarkable rise in the polls, King and Tulane attracted little attention this season. The school was excluded from the BCS bowls, it will play BYU in the Liberty Bowl, and King was not a factor in the Heisman Trophy or Player of the Year votes.

“He should have been high on every award list,” Bowden said. “If you just look at what he’s meant to the team, you can’t tell me Shaun King shouldn’t be at least a finalist.”

King will settle for taking his act to a new level. He believes all he needs is a bigger stage and the accolades will follow.

“I always had confidence that I could play,” King said. “I just thank God that I got a chance to prove it in college. I’m just as confident about the pros. All I need is another chance.”