Junior safety Demonte King took the long way to the Arizona State defensive backfield.
The Bellflower, CA native attended Los Alamitos High School, then continued his career at Long Beach City College (with sophomore cornerback Kobe Williams, who he knew growing up) before transferring to ASU.
Like most junior college transfers, King was relatively unknown on the roster. And after being sidelined with an injury for a good portion of his first fall camp with the team, he was unsure when (and if) he would play.
But now it appears he will get the opportunity to have an impact on Saturday night against the No. 24 Oregon Ducks, after getting his first significant action of the season as a substitute in the Sun Devils' loss to Texas Tech.
"I didn't ever feel like I'd be able to get back," King said. "We worked hard in the training room and worked hard with my coaches and everything — (it) feels great to be back."
King put the work in to make himself capable of playing, but was somewhat surprised when he was called upon.
"I was prepared for it, I don't know if I expected that," King said.
With TTU quarterback Nic Shimonek piling up yards and touchdowns, the Sun Devils' coaching staff felt it was time to tweak the personnel in the defensive backfield.
"(We) made a switch after the third quarter, Chase Lucas came in, did a pretty good job. Demonte King came in, did a pretty good job," ASU defensive coordinator Phil Bennett said.
Before the Texas game, King had not played for ASU.
"I felt comfortable with him, number one. I played him last week," Bennett said. "Demonte just got released in the San Diego State weekend, and we purposefully did not play him, (we) just felt like another week would help him."
It was not a bad first outing for King. He recorded four tackles and a quarterback hurry in his second half play. Coincidentally, the Sun Devils gave up 17 points in the second half, compared to the 35 they allowed in the first.
"He came in and played well, did a good job tackling in space once he got his feet wet and got under control, he played well," ASU defensive backs coach TJ Rushing said.
Tackling in space is no easy task, and it is even more difficult against a spread offense like Texas Tech, but that is what King did well with three solo tackles.
He knows there is still room for improvement.
"I felt kind of rusty out there. I was just trying to limit that high potency, make them earn everything that they were going to get," King said. "I feel like I have a lot of things to work on, coming out there relaxing, wrapping up, showing more field speed that I have."
Now that King has some game experience and has practiced with the first-team defense, he has approached the game with more ease.
"I'm definitely more comfortable. I've got my feet wet, ready to go ... got in there, got some hits and stuff, I feel good. I'm ready to rock." King said.
Reach the reporter at mpharri7@asu.edu or follow @Harris_Mark7 on Twitter.
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