Media

Paul King

Year Inducted: 1975

Category: Media

Schools / Organizations: (Peoria) Manual High School
Bradley University
The Peoria Journal Star

Biography: Paul King has been associated with central Illinois sports for most of his life as he grew up in Peoria and attended Manual High School there.  After high school, Paul attended Bradley University where he was able to remain in constant touch with the local high school basketball world.  He joined the Peoria Journal Star in 1945 and began a 30+ year career of covering high school sports.  In 1957 he was named assistant sports editor and in 1964 became the sports editor of the paper.  Throughout his rise at the newspaper, Paul’s passions remained high school basketball, its records, players, teams, coaches, and fans.  Paul emphasized these as priorities to his staff making the Journal Star the most widely read paper in Illinois outside of Chicago.  Paul passed away on February 25, 2018.