King McClure (born October 1, 1996) is a former American college

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's ...

and sports analyst. He played for the

Baylor Bears The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only three private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior t ...

men's basketball team in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

during his collegiate career. After retiring from basketball for health reasons, he transitioned into sports broadcasting and is known for his work as a basketball analyst on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Early life and high school career

King McClure was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He is the son of Leroy McClure Jr, the founder of two local charter schools, Triple A Academy and Focus Learning Academy, for students with learning disabilities. King attended Triple A Academy, where he excelled as a basketball player. During his high school career, McClure was a highly regarded shooting guard and was named to the

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American multinational fast food chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese chain Mixue Ice Cream & Tea. Brothers ...

nominee list. He was ranked as a four-star recruit and received scholarship offers from top college basketball programs.

College career

McClure committed to

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

, where he played from 2015 to 2019 under head coach

Scott Drew Scott Homer Drew (born October 23, 1970) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach at Baylor Bears men's basketball, Baylor University, a position he has held since 2003. Drew began his coaching career as an assistant for V ...

. Throughout his college career, McClure was known for his three-point shooting, defensive skills, and leadership on the court. He contributed significantly to the Bears’ success during his tenure, helping the team reach the NCAA Tournament multiple times. During his sophomore season, McClure was diagnosed with

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which muscle tissues of the heart become thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ...

, a heart condition that threatened his basketball career. McClure underwent surgery for an

implantable cardioverter-defibrillator An implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) or automated implantable cardioverter defibrillator (AICD) is a device implantable inside the body, able to perform defibrillation, and depending on the type, cardioversion and pacing of the h ...

to manage his condition and continued to play for Baylor.

Post-basketball career

McClure graduated from Baylor with a degree in Health, Kinesiology and Leisure Studies. After graduating, McClure hoped to play in the NBA but doctors on the NBA board told him his chances to play were slim. McClure decided to pursue a career in sports broadcasting. He joined ESPN as a college

basketball analyst A sports analyst is a person looking through technical, tactical, physiological, and psychological performance metrics working with the sports coach and sports science team to improve athlete performance. They will often use Video motion analysis ...

for the 2019-2020 season. In addition to his broadcasting work, McClure is a

motivational speaker A motivational speaker (or inspirational speaker) is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep ta ...

, sharing his experience about overcoming adversity.

Personal life

King McClure remains active in the Dallas community, participating in local events and charity initiatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McClure, King 1996 births Living people Basketball players from Dallas Baylor Bears men's basketball players American sports commentators