North Carolina State University Athletics
Senior Duo Helps Lead Men's Soccer
9/13/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 13, 2005
Raleigh, N.C. - Before Aaron King and John Queeley decided to come all the way to Raleigh from Colorado, the NC State men's soccer program was struggling through some losing seasons.
But since the two Rocky Mountain friends joined the Wolfpack - as well as the rest of a strong recruiting class three years ago - things have changed. NC State won only five games their freshman season, but two years ago, the sophomore duo helped Coach George Tarantini's squad return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994 and last year, as juniors, they continued upon that success and just missed an NCAA bid.
In other words, they have been at the center of a renaissance of a program that twice played for the ACC championship in the first four years the league sponsored a post-season tournament. Tarantini's squad won the 1990 ACC Championship, as well as the 1994 regular-season crown.
"We get a lot of satisfaction out of that," said King, a two-time All-ACC forward who just became one of the Top-10 scorers in Wolfpack soccer history. "I guess that is what we are playing for this last year. We have worked this hard to make it, to put it back on the map, and so now is our reward.
"We are going to go out and have fun, play just to play."
King has provided strong scoring during his career and will attempt to become the second player in school history to lead the Wolfpack in goals and points in each of his four seasons. Mark Jonas (1992-95) is the only other person to accomplish that feat. Already this season he has scored five goals in the first five games, scoring in every game.
Queeley, entering his second season as the team captain, has big ambitions for his up-coming senior year. Just this past weekend, Queeley scored the game winner against College of Charleston off a free kick.
"This is a reward season for us," Queeley said. "We have brought a team that was struggling to compete against the top ACC teams to being a team that is very competitive. I am looking forward to this season. This is the most comfortable I have felt since we have been here. I am hoping that nothing but good things happen for us.
"It's a good testimonial to me and Aaron. It makes me happy to see remember how it was three or four years ago, to look back now and say we have made a change and a dent. No one can take that away from us."
Tarantini is certainly appreciative of what the duo has done in their first three years, giving life back to a talent-rich program.
"They are the formula we have used to be pretty successful," said the veteran coach, who is entering his 20th season as the head coach of the men's program. "We made the NCAAs and competed very well in the ACC. The thing that strikes me the most is how competitive and how much they have raised the level of this team."
Neither King nor Queeley grew up dreaming of playing at NC State. In fact, neither of the players knew much about the school when they were playing at Denver's Smoky Hill High School or for the Colorado Rush club team, except that it was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both players dreamed of playing in the ACC, perhaps the most competitive league in the country.
Tarantini first saw the duo play in a regional club tournament in Florida, and immediately knew that he had discovered some quality prospects. He first approached King, who introduced the coach to Queeley.
King was being recruited by a host of nationally prominent programs, but none of them were in the ACC. Queeley really wanted to go to Florida State - until he found out that the Seminoles didn't have a men's soccer program.
So the two friends came on an official visit to NC State. On their way back to Denver, they decided to make themselves a package deal for Tarantini's program.
"In the airport on the way back, we just realized that this is the place we needed to be," King said. "The place was really low-key. The weather was amazing. The conference was amazing. The coach was amazing. We just decided this is where we needed to be and we could make it better."
Queeley remembers being recruited by King as much as he was being recruited by Tarantini.
"Aaron had already committed to NC State," said Queeley, who has started all 53 games he has played in for the Wolfpack. "He was kind of putting a little pressure on me and made me think: Do I want to go to school with someone I know or not? I thought `Man, I might as well go with this guy I know who I know is a good player.' We have known each other practically our whole lives.
"To be honest I really wanted to go to Florida State, but they didn't have a team. So I thought I could come to NC State, since it was in the same conference. At least I would get to play against all the same teams."
The pair first met at the age of 10 when they were part of the Aurora Sting club, though they played for different teams. They moved up to play for the Colorado Rush by the time they were in their mid-teens, traveling the country for club tournaments. As high school seniors, they were the driving force behind Smoky Hills winning the 2001 state 5A championship.
But coming to Raleigh was a big adjustment for the players, socially, academically and athletically. They were about as used to losing as they were the heat, high humidity and what they considered to be a turtle-like pace of life in Raleigh.
"My first year was hard, coming from a team that won everything we played - we might have lost eight games my whole life," Queeley said. "Then my freshman year, we only won five games. It really helped me to have someone like Aaron who was in the same position as me.
"We could relate to what each other was going through."
King had a harder time adjusting to what was happening off the field. He could take losing a lot easier than he could having so much free time.
"I am not going to say that there isn't much to do in Raleigh, but it is much more low-key to life in a big city," King said. "I had to get used to just relaxing. I was used to the fast life in Colorado. I was used to going out and doing this and that. Here, I had more time on my hands, more time to just sit back and evaluate.
"Things are slower here. I had to adjust and use my time-management skills."
King and Queeley lived together their first two years on campus, but decided to go their separate ways last year. However, they remain close.
This summer, they played together for the Raleigh CASL Elite in the United Soccer League's Premier Development League, joining forces with players from North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest. King scored 10 goals in the seven games he played during the PDL season, while Queeley was a mainstay on a team that was 9-4-1 during the summer.
They both came out of that season with more confidence in their abilities and more optimism for the coming season.
King found the experience particularly useful since he tends to be a little too critical of his performances.
"I was playing against all these top players in the ACC teams and in the country and I was one of the best players there," King said. "I really saw that going into my senior year, nothing is going to hold me back.
"In the past I have been very critical of myself, wanting perfection all the time. This summer taught me that I can be content after a game in knowing that I did the best I could. At the end of the game, I have to leave it behind. I think I am going into this final season being more content in what I do."
With their gifts and talents - both are big at 6-foot-2 and have enviable ball-handling skills - King and Queeley have a playing future after college, in Major League Soccer, in European soccer and perhaps national-team play.
"We are just starting to scratch the surface with these two guys," Tarantini said. "I think they will both be successful at the next level."
But for now, King and Queeley are looking forward to making their final season together, after more than a decade of being constant teammates and companions, something special.
"I want us to reach our full potential," Queeley said. "We have a strong base from the last four years. I don't see why we can't be in the ACC championship and make it back to the NCAAs. "I just don't see why we can't."
