King Me: Report indicates former Houston QB picks Miami

After making headlines this past week about his decision to enter the transfer portal, former Houston QB D’Eriq King has elected to transfer to Miami for his final year of eligibility, according to a report from The Athletic’s Manny Navarro. 

Can report former #Houston QB D’eriq King has told Miami coaches he has chosen UM and will begin classes Tuesday pic.twitter.com/B70qzOAUTO

— Manny Navarro (@Manny_Navarro) January 19, 2020

Despite the report, there is another conflicting report from Fox26’s Mark Berman in Houston has indicated that King has not made a final decision and he is still talking to Arkansas, LSU, and Maryland. 

D’Eriq King (@DeriqKing_), who is transferring from @UHCougarFB, says he has yet to make a final decision on where he’s going: “I haven’t committed to anybody yet. I’m still looking at my options. I visited Miami. I liked it, but there are other options I’m still trying see to..” pic.twitter.com/E4kz2xypWR

— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) January 19, 2020

King’s decision is on a slight time crunch because the last day to enroll in classes at UM is this Tuesday, January 21st. 

If true, this would be the second consecutive season in which Miami’s been able to bring in a quarterback via the transfer portal, and while much hype followed Tate Martell’s decision to come to Coral Gables, they have not gotten much from the former Ohio State gunslinger in 2019.

King’s marquee season came in 2018 where he threw for just under 3,000 yards to go along with 36 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. On top of that, he added 674 rushing yards for 15 touchdowns. To give you a comparison, all of Miami’s quarterbacks and running backs combined for 16 rushing touchdowns in 2019.

D’Eriq previously decided to redshirt in 2019 to preserve his final year of eligibility after Houston started the season 1-3. He originally intended to return to Houston in 2020 but rumors quickly spread about his intentions to transfer soon after.

Things could get a lot more interesting in that QB room should the 5’11, 194 pound King come to Coral Gables. King would likely be the presumed starter and that puts more pressure on 2019 co-starters Jarren Williams and N’Kosi Perry, who may or may not elect to seek opportunities at other schools. 

Above all, this would be a huge get for head coach Manny Diaz and most importantly new OC Rhett Lashlee he would have  his guy to run and execute the spread offense that he’d implement this season.