AJ King accepts award as finalist for Walter Jones Award

AJ King accepts award as finalist for Walter Jones Award
November 23, 2022

At Tuesday night's Butler Men's Basketball game, Butler football player AJ King was recognized and awarded a special football for being a finalist this year for the Walter Jones Award.

The Walter Jones Award, named for former JUCO offensive lineman and National Football League (NFL) Hall of Fame player, Walter Jones, is awarded to the best Junior College Football Player in America.  

AJ King, sophomore from Wichita, KS was a finalist for this year's Walter Jones Award, the Heisman of junior college football. King, a First Team All-Conference wide receiver and return specialist was one of the most dominant players in the country all season long.

King recorded 53 receptions this season, which put him at fourth all time for the Grizzlies, and tallied 816 yards of offense, scoring eight receiving touchdowns. He earned more than 100 yards receiving in four of his 10 games, including a stunning 158-yard performance against Snow College, the most for a receiver since Michael Gallup. He was a return nightmare as well, finishing with over 600+ return yards this season while averaging 148.6 of all-purpose yards per game which led the nation this season.

The Wichita native finishes his Butler career with over 1,000+ receiving yards (1,150), 77 total receptions (4th All-time in program history) and 10 receiving touchdowns in his 20 games played in the purple and gold. King finished his career with 453 kick return yards, an average of 28.3 per return and 399 punt return yards, an average of 14.8 with one touchdown, an 82-yard punt return this season against Snow. He totaled 2,008 total all-purpose yards during his career, averaging 100.4 all-purpose yards per game throughout his career.

This season King was voted 1st Team All-Conference in the KJCCC and was named National Player of the Week along with garnering KJCCC Player of the Week honors throughout the season.

King was a top-5 finalist to win the award along with Steven Cattledge Jr. (East Mississippi), Robert Henry (Jones College), Jackson Flier (Iowa Western) and Dylan Laible (Hutchinson). Congratulations to Robert Henry for winning this year's Walter Jones Award.