Michael King recently finished his third season as SMU's assistant coach.
Most recently, King and the rest of the SMU coaching staff were recognized as the 2023 American Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year. The Mustangs advanced to the NCAA Round of Sixteen and won the AAC regular season outright. Two members of the SMU roster were named as Hermann Trophy semifinalists and four were All American selections.
During the 2022 season, the Mustangs finished with a 10-6-1 overall record. SMU finished 6-3 in AAC play and finished the regular season in second place. Six student-athletes were named to All-American Athletic Conference teams. Knut Ahlander was named the leagues Offensive and Midfielder of the Year and Alexander Petraeus was crowned the Rookie of the Year. Mads Westergren and Ahlander were selected to the All-AAC First Team and JP Jordan and Petraeus were selected to the conference's Second Team. Nikola Djordjevic, Fredrik Skilberg and Petraeus earned All-Rookie Team nods. SMU earned its 34th appearance in the NCAA tournament and the first since King joined the full-time staff. The Mustangs entered as the No. 11 overall seed and finished top 15 in the country in assists per game, points per game and scoring offense.
In his first season as an assistant coach, SMU finished with an 8-5-3 record. The Mustangs put together a solid start to the season, going unbeaten in nonconference, including a top ten victory over then-No. 8 Stanford to open the season. The Mustangs were 5-4-1 in the AAC, earning a third-place finish. Four athletes were named as members of All-East Region teams, including senior standouts Knut Ahlander and Gabriel Costa, were named to the Second Team, while Papa Ndoye and Brandon Terwege notched spots on the Third Team. In addition, six members of the squad were named to All-American Athletic Conference teams.
King joined as an assistant coach after spending two seasons as the team's graduate assistant. During the 2019 and 2020-21 seasons, King helped coach the Mustangs to an overall record of 23-7-2 record and two American Athletic Conference Tournament appearances, including a tournament championship in 2019. The Mustangs also made an appearance in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the Quarterfinals.
Prior to returning to the Hilltop as a staff member, King was a standout defender from 2012 to 2016. The Spring, Texas native saw action in 60 games, including 49 starts, throughout four seasons while tallying one assist and nine shots. King helped anchor a Mustang backline that totaled 20 shutouts during his four seasons on the pitch.
While playing for SMU, King contributed to teams that won two regular season conference championships and earned two bids to the NCAA Tournament. 2012 saw him named to the Conference USA All-Freshman and in 2013, he was selected to the SMU Invitational All-Tournament Team.
