If you ever find yourself having a conversation with Kansas junior Will King, be sure to listen closely when you hear him speak.
If you’re not careful, you might think the KU golfer is talking about golf when he’s actually discussing his major — Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology — or that he’s talking science and biology when breaking down putting and chipping.
It’s King’s ability to handle both his academic and athletic endeavors that makes him perfectly suited to succeed as a golfer while simultaneously being of the smartest athletes on KU’s campus.
And there are elements of both that check important boxes in the pleasure centers of King’s brain.
“It’s crazy to just learn about how complex the processes of the human body are and how many different steps are involved,” King said recently when explaining why he chose his major during an hour-long sit-down interview with R1S1 Sports. “For me, as somebody who really likes to identify patterns and likes to break things down, it’s just a great fit.”
Like him to golf?
“Definitely,” he added. “I just really like to take things and figure out how to break them down and make them as simple as you can, just so you can understand it.”
He continued: “What you see is just a score. Like, a 72. But there’s a lot of very small things that go into it. So, figuring out how I’m going to shoot good, solid rounds when I’m under pressure, that’s a pretty complex thing. For whatever reason, figuring all that out has always been something that I’ve really enjoyed.”
We’ll get back to the golf part of his journey in a bit.
But to understand how unique his path truly is, one first has to learn why he elected to take it in the first place.
Why so smart?
Doing well in school was always an important, if not required, part of his upbringing. And the better he did in class the more doors that opened.
The son of a lawyer mother and flour-milling father, King’s interest in science and medicine came largely from the path his older siblings took before him.
“I think all the time, ‘Why am I able to do both?’ And I’ve sort of concluded that it’s because I find joy in both of them.” — KU junior Will King
His older brother entered the biotech field and was the first to explain to King what that even is. And his older sister started applying to medical schools when King was in high school at nearby Rockhurst High. Conversations with both of them piqued his interest about the world of medicine, and, while he initially thought he was on his way to becoming a doctor — his sister will — his growing appreciation for his science classes and the activity of medicine has him thinking more about his brother’s path.
That’s when he’s not thinking about golf, that is.
“My mom always made it pretty clear that sports was not going to become more important than school for me,” King said.
That’s what led him to KU. While he had offers to play golf at some pretty good Division III schools — one in California and another in Georgia — nowhere else offered what KU could offer in terms of the academic side of things. Being close to home only helped make the transition from high school to college more manageable.
That last word, or at least what it means, has been crucial for King during his time as a Jayhawk, because his ability to manage an intense class load with the rigors of trying to become the best golfer he can be has made it all work for him.
King came to KU as a business major on the pre-med track and officially settled on his current major in 2023. He didn’t know it even existed when he came to college but found it speaking to him when he was looking through the coursework required for each potential major.
He’s three semesters into the world of Molecular Cellular Developmental Biology — this spring will be his fourth — and he continues to believe it’s the right path for him.
The only way to know for sure, though, is to stick with it and map out a detailed plan of attack for how to manage — there’s that word again — his pursuit of a complex degree while spending so much time at the golf course and on the road at tournaments.
“Last spring, it got to be pretty overwhelming towards the end of it, especially towards the postseason,” King said. “Trying to figure out how much time I needed to spend at the golf facility versus how much time I needed to spend in the library was tough to figure out and tiring at the same time.”
KU golfer Will King always thinks the game as much as he plays it. [Kansas Athletics photos]
He credits academic advisor Kara Wiebe for helping him manage the most stressful moments, and said he couldn’t do any of it without the support of KU golf coach Jamie Bermel.
“It was a huge, huge deterrent for a lot of the schools I was talking to,” King said of his desire to juggle both. “But coach Bermel basically said, ‘We’ll see where it goes,’ and he’s always been really good about checking in on me, just to see where my head is at and where my energy level is, too. I really appreciate it and it definitely gives me more motivation to do well in my classes and to do well for the team, too.”
King is Bermel’s first pre-med major – in more than three decades as the head golf coach at four universities.
And he admits that, when King first approached him about doing both, the idea, “scared me to death.”
“My first thoughts were, ‘It’s impossible. This won’t work. He’ll be pulled both ways and be either an average golfer or switch majors,’” Bermel told R1S1 Sports. “But the more I thought about it, the more I thought why not? Who am I to tell a kid that he can’t do both?”
So, with his new coach behind him, King did. Big time.
He’s been a huge addition to the KU team, picking up a win last season and being one of the team’s most consistent scorers during the past few seasons. He’s also made it all work with relative ease, taking advantage every available moment to work on both golf and the pre-med grind.
The schedule that makes it all possible
It starts with setting up each week just the way he likes it.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are his heavy class days. He usually goes from 8 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m. on those days, with a full class load and a break for lunch.
In the fall, it looked like this: Cell Structure and Function followed by Biochemistry and then Immunology before closing the day with Finance 305, which he can apply toward his business minor.
Because why wouldn’t he be minoring in business, too?
He only had one class on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from 10 to 11 a.m., and he plugged in a workout before class started on those days.
“That gives me three days each week where I’m really able to do all the work that I want to do on my golf game,” he said.
That normally means 3 to 4 hours each day at the Jayhawk Club working on whatever parts of his game need the most attention.
He found time for golf on Tuesdays and Thursdays, too, but usually just 60-90 minutes at the end of the day, in part to satisfy his desire to keep getting better and in part as a way to detox from the heavy day of academics.
“That’s all fundamental work,” he said. “Putt for 30 minutes to make sure my alignment’s right, the stroke and tempo. And then I’ll do some basic swing work, just because those things don’t take a whole lot of effort, but they’re things you need to check up on.”
King’s class schedule this semester presents a different challenge than the one he navigated last fall.
In addition to developmental biology, physics, business economics and an independent study with one of his previous professors, he also has a physics lab.
Not only will that add a layer of work and responsibility to the load, but it also will make it harder to miss time.
“It’s the lab work that’s tricky,” Bermel said. “Those kids just can’t walk in and tell their professors they’re gonna be gone three days.”
Through constant communication with his professors, help from his coach and his carefully constructed timeline, King is confident he’ll be able to make it work.
If for no other reason than because he’s done it before.
“I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been able to find a better balance or what,” he said of getting the hang of it all as his college career has gone on. “The classes certainly haven’t gotten any easier, but I think I’ve gotten better at managing my time.”
Bermel agreed.
“His time management is world class,” the KU coach said. “I don’t know how many times I’ve seen him in the airport doing homework. Or, if we’ve got even just a 45-minute car ride, he usually sits in the back seat on his iPad and does his homework.”
Doubts have crept in
It’s not all smooth sailing for King, who makes most of this look easy.
In fact, there was a time in 2024, just before the Jayhawks left for regionals, when he thought about changing his major.
“I just had that feeling of, ‘I’m not sure this is what I want to do,’” King recalled. “It felt like school was getting in the way of what I needed to do as a golfer. That was the most stressful point I’ve had so far, but (academic advisor Kara Wiebe) kind of calmed me down and helped reaffirm that this is what I want to do and this is why I’m at KU – for pre-med and golf.”
He moved forward with that thought firmly planted in his brain and has been locked in on all things KU since then.
People ask him all the time, “Why do you do this?” Especially his teammates.
“Typically, I don’t answer that question with much depth,” King said while laughing. “Like, ‘I don’t know, man; I’m just doing it.’ That’s pretty much as deep as I go.”
The truth is, however, King knows exactly why he does this.
Every time he contemplates that question himself, his mind flashes back to the early days, at age 4 or 5, when his dad first took him to the driving range and he fell in love with the sport.
Both of his parents play the game now, and King said there’s nothing better than 18 holes with mom and dad.
His dad is a 6 handicap and the two usually have decent matches, with King giving him a few strokes and winning most of the time. His mom is still a novice but improving rapidly.
Just talking about their games makes King smile far more than talk about his own success with a driver in hand.
KU junior Will King has been one of the more steady players on the team during the past couple of seasons. [Kansas Athletics photo]
What comes next?
The love of the game is there and it’s not going away. But King also realizes that the odds of him making a career out of golf aren’t hugely in his favor.
He plans to try, though. If for no other reason than the fact that he’s seen Jayhawks from the past make a living on the golf course. To him, that’s proof that it can be done.
Current KU teammate Gunnar Broin making the cut at the U.S. Open as an amateur last summer certainly didn’t hurt King’s biggest dreams.
The other reason he’s open to going for it is because he never wants to look back and regret that he didn’t.
“Pro golf, for pretty much every single one of us, is like the dream,” he said. “That’s the lifestyle you want to have. So, for me, it’s gonna come down to how much better I get over the next year and a half. If I feel like I’m good enough to give it a real shot, then absolutely I’m gonna try it out.”
If not, then he’s always got med school and a future profession that figures to give him just as much satisfaction.
Bermel believes King is good enough — steady enough — to have a real shot at turning pro when he’s done at Kansas.
He would know, too. He coached two-time major champion Zach Johnson a bunch of years ago when the two were at Drake, and he remembers clearly when Johnson told him that he was ready to turn pro.
At the time, Johnson was the No. 3 player on Bermel’s team. And Bermel remembered thinking that Johnson should try climbing into the No. 1 or 2 spot at Drake before trying to compete with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ernie Els and those guys.
But we all know how that one worked out. Johnson, who, at 48 is still playing on the PGA Tour, has 26 professional wins to his name and, according to figures from pgatour.com, has made nearly $50 million as a pro.
“Those guys know,” Bermel said. “And I remember thinking about Zach when Will first told me he wanted to play golf and do pre-med. He knew he could do it. And I don’t know what’s harder, med school or chasing down the PGA Tour.”
For now, King, who was recently named the Big 12 Men’s Golf Student-Athlete of the Month for January, doesn’t have to worry about either. Or, he’s at least choosing not to. That path will present itself in the right way at the right time.
“I’d say most of my hunger for golf right now is all focused on KU golf,” King said. “That’s pretty much my scope, being the best collegiate player I can be and trying to help the team be the best we can be. That’s my main priority right now.”
That, and his classes, of course.
The fact that he’s found the sweet spot of committing fully to everything he is as a Jayhawk has given King a chance to succeed in both fields.
Pro golf is not top of mind for him today, but it is there in his mind and he’s not afraid of it. If the opportunity comes, he’ll be ready to attack it and give it all he has.
If it doesn’t, he’ll be just fine playing rounds with his friends and family while continuing to be in awe of the processes that exist within the human body.
“That’s one thing that I’ve become more conscious of over the past couple of years, and it’s been really cool to see how those things correlate,” he said of the balance he’s found between golf and his classes. “I think all the time, ‘Why am I able to do both?’ And I’ve sort of concluded that it’s because I find joy in both of them.”
Jayhawks open spring with 6th-place finish
The Kansas men's golf team kicked off its spring schedule with a 7th-place finish at The Prestige tournament this week in La Quinta, California.
KU fired rounds of -6, +1 and +4 at the 3-day event.
King did not play because of a nagging injury, but he is expected to return soon. KU's next tournament is slated for March 8 and 9 in Desert Mountain, Arizona.
This week, the Jayhawks were led by junior Luke Honner, who finished tied for 12th in the individual standings at 4-under, and sophomore Max Jelinek, who shot +1 for the three days to finish in a tie for 43rd at the 120-player field.
Others scores for KU in California this week were: senior Gunnar Broin (+3, T47th), sophomore Noah Holtzmann (+9, T86th) and freshman Ty Lasley (+9, T86th).
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
