Former Razorback Baseball Great Jeff King Inducted into SWC Hall of Fame

FORT WORTH, Texas – Former Razorback baseball All-American and MLB first overall draft pick Jeff King was among nine honorees inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame on Monday afternoon in a luncheon at the Brown-Lupton University Union on the TCU campus in Fort Worth, Texas.

Hosted by the Texas Sports Hall of Fame (TSHOF), the event honored King as well as other legends from schools previously affiliated with the Southwest Conference. On hand to help honor King, was his former coach Arkansas legend Norm DeBriyn.

“Jeff King is a former No. 1 overall draft pick and among the best players to ever take the field for Razorback Baseball,” University of Arkansas Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Hunter Yurachek said. “Jeff was instrumental in helping lead Arkansas to tremendous success both in the Southwest Conference and on a national stage before embarking on an 11-year Major League Baseball career.”

The Marion, Indiana, native is a member of the University of Arkansas Sports Hall of Honor and spent his Razorback career over the 1984, ’85 and ’86 seasons that helped catapult Arkansas Baseball back to the national stage and including a trip to the College World Series in 1985. King was an All-America selection all three seasons in a Hog uniform and still holds the third-highest batting average over an Arkansas career, hitting .372.

King was an All-Southwest Conference (SWC) selection in 1985 and ’86, as well as making the SWC All-Tournament Team as a freshman and sophomore. He was a key part of Arkansas’ run to the 1985 CWS where he had 93 hits, 26 doubles, 17 home runs and 82 RBIs. The RBI total still stands as the single-season record in school history. King went on to be named to the 1985 CWS All-Tournament Team where Arkansas reached the semifinals for the second time in program history after wins over South Carolina and Stanford.

After his junior year, King entered the MLB Draft and was taken as the No. 1 overall pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates. At the time, he was the second first-round draft pick in school history, following Kevin McReynolds, who was taken sixth overall by the San Diego Padres in 1981. However, King still remains as the only first-overall pick in Arkansas history and one of eight first-round draft picks.

King played 11 years at the pro level from 1989-1999, spending eight years in Pittsburgh and three years in Kansas City. He reached the playoffs with the Pirates in 1990 and 1992, playing in the National League Championship Series both times and played 100 or more games in a season seven times. King finished his career with a .256 average, 1,091 hits and 154 home runs. His best seasons came in his final year in Pittsburgh (1996) where he hit .271 with 30 home run and 111 RBIs. That led to his signing with Kansas City in 1997, where he batted .238, but drove in 112 RBIs and hit 28 home runs.

In addition to King, the 2019 class includes All-American Baylor football player, Mark Adickes, All American track star from the University of Houston, Leroy Burrell, former Rice football great, Courtney Hall, SMU football standout, Gary Hammond, University of Texas All-American football player, Tony Brackens, Texas A&M All-American basketball player, Chalisa (Lisa) Branch, former TCU football star, Charlie Davis and All-SWC running back from Texas Tech, James Gray.

“In 2019 we have yet another outstanding group of student-athletes who exemplify what made the Southwest Conference so great; these elite athletes represented their schools with distinction,” said Cooper Jones, the President & CEO of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame. “The Southwest Conference Hall of Fame exists to honor a proud tradition of excellence.”