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Troy King's blossoming love affair with the game of basketball has paid off handsomely.

The senior St. John's-Catholic Prep standout made a verbal commitment on Monday to play at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis.

King, a first-team All-Gazette player last season, averaged 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and shot 44.6% from 3-point range for the Vikings, play in the ultra-competitive Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference.

"He really fell in love with the game, [after his sophomore season]," said St. John's-CP head coach Silas Cheung. "He has good size, and he's always been tough, but he worked very hard and turned himself into a very good shooter, once of the best shooters in our league, which really says a lot."

King, a 6 foot 7 small forward, also considered offers from several other NCAA Division I mid-major programs such as St. Francis (Pa.), Radford (Va.) as well as several Northeast Conference and Colonial Athletic Association schools.

He began his high school career at Damascus, where he played on the junior varsity as a freshman. He played a year of JV at SJCP before exploding into prominence in his junior season.

"[His choice of college] was definitely not an overnight decision," said Cheung.

" It's taken several months for him to arrive at his decision. Troy can definitely be successful both on and off of the court. He is great young man with a great vision and has many goals set for himself. He's looking to set himself up for the future."

"Now he has taken a lot of pressure off of himself, he can enjoy his final year of basketball. He still has to work hard, but now he's got one less thing to worry about."

Lanning chooses Salisbury

Frederick High baseball standout Jimmy Lanning has verbally committed to NCAA Division III Salisbury University program.

The junior outfielder-pitcher won all four of his pitching decisions on the mound and drove in 31 runs on 20 base hits for the Cadets this past spring, earning First-Team All-Gazette honors.