Jordan King's time at Marquette is nearing an end, but she's made the most of her five seasons

Jordan King is a natural-born hooper.

The 5-foot-11 point guard has been a starter for the Marquette women's basketball team from the day she stepped on the MU campus to play for head coach Megan Duffy.

King has always had a steady command of the Golden Eagles' offense. She is the only player in MU history to have over 1,700 points and 500 career assists. She's in the top 10 on the Golden Eagles' career lists in both those categories.

After five seasons, it will be a strange sight next season when the MU starting lineup is announced at the Al McGuire Center and King isn't among them.

"I was shooting with her the other week and I was like ‘J, we don’t have too many more of these,' " Duffy said. "Where I’m rebounding for her.

"It’s going to be weird and I’m just grateful she has been physically healthy enough to play all the games she has. I try not to think about the day she leaves.”

The textbook form on her jumper. The smart reads. It feels like King was born to play basketball. And, when you dig into her history with the game, she just might have been.

Jordan King was inspired by UConn's Maya Moore

King came into the world on June 27, 2001. Her father, Jeremy, remembers a lot about that night, including that he was intently watching the NBA draft. It was also his birthday.

So there was already a unique connection. There became another one thanks to Jeremy's pure passion for hoops.

Whenever Jeremy headed to pickup games around the Rockford, Illinois, area, he would always bring along Jordan.

"Just spending time with my daughter," Jeremy said. "There was no ulterior motive other than just being with my daughter and having her around guys I’ve known for years.

"And then she just started to fall in love with it. There were times where I was going and potentially leaving her at home and she’d say ‘I want to go.’ "

Jordan's first memories of actually being on the court came in coed leagues at the YMCA.

“I just remember being on one of the teams and being like one of two girls on the team," Jordan said. "And it’s all boys and we’re just running around trying to figure out who we’re guarding and we’re shooting on like six-foot rims.”

Basketball locked in for Jordan when she started watching heady guard Maya Moore play at Connecticut from 2007-11.

“She was like the first big female athlete that I was following and like role modeling," Jordan said. "So she really inspired me to want to play further and further and take it seriously.

"Obviously in third grade I didn’t know what college basketball meant, but I wanted to be her. I wanted to do what she was doing.”

Her dad saw the switch flip.

"She had the drive when she first started training with a friend of mine," Jeremy said. "Because I just wanted to be her dad. So she was with a friend of mine that was a trainer. And he pushed her to work on fundamentals, which was the biggest thing that we wanted to work on.

"It’s like with any other kid, once they get better and start seeing success with a made layup or a made jump shot, that just drove her harder to become better at basketball. The drive just built from there where she wanted to succeed."

Day 1 starter at Marquette for head coach Megan Duffy

King became an all-state player at Hononegah High School in Rockton, Illinois, and committed to former MU coach Carolyn Kieger in the class of 2019.

She stuck around when Duffy was hired to replace Kieger. The head coach and point guard have been inextricably linked.

"Coming in as a freshman and kind of getting thrown out there, at times thinking back I’m like I can’t believe my teammates trusted this little freshman out there with a ball in her hands," Jordan said.

"But I think my IQ has flourished under Coach Duffy. I think she’s taught me a lot. That’s translated to my physical game as well."

They've been together for over 100 victories with the Golden Eagles.

"She’s the ultimate team player," Jeremy said. "Always has been. Never cared about stats. I’ve always told her the only thing that matters is that scoreboard.

"So that’s one of the things I really admire about her. She always puts the team first."

MU's regular season ends on Saturday against Butler in Indianapolis, and the Big East tournament starts a week later. On Selection Sunday, the Golden Eagles hope they will have done enough to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Golden Eagles are still looking for their first NCAA Tournament win under Duffy. That was one reason why King came back to use the fifth year of eligibility granted to athletes who played in the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season.

“Continue to strive to be the best versions of ourselves and as a team we can be," Jordan said. "Obviously that starts with the game ahead of us.

"We get that out of the way, get a win, go to the next one. It’s never looking too far ahead. That’s how I am as a person, I don’t like to look too far into the future."

Jordan King getting her master's degree at Marquette

The extra season has helped Jordan play in the second-most games in MU history. She's also taken advantage of that off the court.

She earned her undergraduate degree in three years, and is finishing up her two-year master's program in school counselling. She is the first member of her family to graduate from college.

"That means everything to us as a family and to her," Jeremy said. "For her to be able to achieve that master’s degree with the level of basketball that’s she’s had to play and is required to show up every single day is just amazing to us. It just proves her drive to reach every goal that she’s ever put in front of her."

The college sports landscape has changed dramatically over Jordan's five years. Women's sports have increased in popularity, and college basketball stars like Iowa's Caitlin Clark and Connecticut's Paige Bueckers are bona fide celebrities.

"I think people are starting to notice what women athletes are capable of doing," Jordan said. "I think the way that it’s spread across media, too. I think we’re getting more coverage.

"And the talk around women’s sports has been larger. And then getting people to games. They get here and they’re like, wow, this is great.”

During Jordan's time at MU, college athletes also became allowed to profit off their name, image and likeness. At MU games, fans can be seen wearing No. 23 jerseys and t-shirts with Jordan's face on them.

"It’s something that just takes my breath away," Jeremy said.

It's a long way from the toddler on the sideline at his pickup games.

“People ask me all the time if it was my dream," Jeremy said. "No, it’s not my dream. If it’s not her dream, she’s not going to achieve it. It has to be her dream for her to achieve it.”

Jordan has achieved almost all she wanted out of her five seasons at MU. She's had accolades and recognition, will get two degrees and has benefited from NIL deals. She isn't quite done yet, but she knows how she will remember her time with the Golden Eagles.

"I think it’s going to be the sacrifices we made for each other as teammates," she said. "Sacrifices on the court or off the court for this program.

"I think that over these five years, I’ve poured a lot into basketball and Marquette basketball. And then obviously we won a lot of games. We did a lot of winning. It might not look pretty at times and there’s losses in there of course, but I think just what it took to have a successful career doing something you love in a place that you love surrounded by great people who have poured into you as well."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Marquette Golden Eagles point guard Jordan King stars for Megan Duffy