Ex-Wolf Pack F Leland King lands at Big West school

Leland King II is joining his former Wolf Pack teammate, Devearl Ramsey, at UC Santa Barbara.

King, who announced earlier this month he was transferring from Nevada, has committed to the Gauchos. ESPN was the first to report the news.

As a graduate transfer, King will be eligible to play for UCSB this season. Ramsey will have to sit out this season under NCAA transfer rules.

King, a native of Inglewood, Calif., began his college career at Brown University before transferring to Nevada. He walked on with the Wolf Pack during his first season, a redshirt transfer year, and was on scholarship last season. King graduated from Nevada in May.

Last season, King was one of Nevada's top fowards off the bench. The 6-foot-7, 215-pounder averaged 3.7 points and 2.6 rebounds in 10.1 minutes per game. He shot 43 percent from the field, including 22.2 percent from three. He set Wolf Pack career highs with 13 points and 12 rebounds in a win over San Jose State in December.

After the season ended, King told the Wolf Pack staff he was going to return for his senior season. More than two months later, King announced he would transfer for his senior season. Santa Barbara, which plays in the Big West, is under the leadership of first-year coach Josh Pasternak.

"I just want to go somewhere I will have the opportunity to play a lot and help the team out,” King told the RGJ on the day he transferred. “I just want to say thank you for the time I had here in Reno. We had a fine year and I met a lot of good people. I will have a lot of memories."

At Brown, King averaged 11.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game over two seasons. He tallied 14.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore before leaving the university halfway through the season. He eventually landed at Nevada, where King was a part of last season's Mountain West championship team.

King's open scholarship was used to recruit St. John's transfer Darien Williams, who also is a graduate transfer and eligible to play for the Wolf Pack this season.

King and Ramsey are the fourth and fifth transfers out of Nevada in the last two seasons, joining Eric Cooper Jr. (Pepperdine) as well as Kaileb Rodriguez and Sam Williams, who both transferred to lower-division schools last season.

UCSB has added three D-I transfers this season. In addition to Ramsey and King, the Gauchos added Rice graduate transfer Marcus Jackson.