Wes King is a standout goalie on the ADVNC SF & NDP ‘22 squads who will play for Gettysburg College starting this Fall.
Wes first played baseball when he was very young, and immediately wanted to be a catcher. A few years later, bored with baseball, his dad, Jamie, suggested Wes try lacrosse.
“Lacrosse just felt right,” Wes said. “There was a lot more action than baseball and it felt fluid. I wanted to be a goalie right away. It was a natural change from being a catcher in baseball. The skills translated.”
“I grew up in Chicago, and I played hockey as a goalie,” Jamie King said. “Around that time, lacrosse first started showing up in the Midwest. I ended up playing goalie on my High School lacrosse team too. We won the Illinois state championship when I was a sophomore. I was really bitten by the lacrosse bug.”
“I liked how in lacrosse, the goalie is the QB of the team,” Wes said. “I was in charge of the defense and I saw the entire field. Playing goalie is crazy. You’re standing your ground against someone just ten yards away throwing a ball 100 mph at you. It’s your job to get hit by it. It’s insane, but I love it.”
“From the moment he started lacrosse, he jumped in the goal, right away,” said Jamie King.
“I really fell in love with being a goalie when I watched the 2016 semifinal between Brown and Maryland,” said Wes. “Jack Kelly was Brown’s goalie. He single-handedly kept Brown in that game, when they were totally overmatched. I saw how that one position can make or break a team.”
Jackson Bishop (L) & Wes King (R)
Wes played rec league lacrosse with the Southern Marin Wolfpack for a couple years. At a tournament in Tahoe, they saw ADVNC playing and Wes soon tried out for ADVNC. “I didn’t know anyone at first,” Wes said. “But at the very first practice, I met Jackson Bishop, and he’s been my best friend ever since.”
“ADVNC has been an incredible experience, on multiple levels,” said Jamie King. “From a pure development standpoint, Wes got a lot better. But the friendships he developed … being able to meet kids outside of Marin and on all parts of the West Coast is amazing. And as a parent, I’ve developed friendships that are endearing and ones that I will carry on even after our boys go off to college.”
“When I was young, lacrosse was about having fun with my friends,” said Wes. “But as soon as I joined ADVNC, I knew what the goal was .. it was to play at a high level and play in college. At ADVNC practices, they work you. The level of play at those practices is amazing. The names and rankings of the guys on my team, you can’t compare that to any other program on the West Coast. ADVNC is so prestigious and the level of play is super competitive.”
Heading into college recruiting, Wes knew he could lean on ADVNC, specifically ADVNC Founder & CEO, Chris Rotelli.
“Wes started getting attention from Gettysburg early on in the recruiting process,” said Jamie King. “Chris Rotelli got on the phone with their coaches, told them about Wes as a player and endorsed him. Wes is a little undersized and he’s from the West Coast, which is still a bit of a stigma. It was great to have Chris and his credibility put to work on Wes’s behalf.”
“Without Coach Rotelli, I’m not going to Gettysburg,” Wes said. “Coach Rotelli stood by me and told Gettysburg that I was the right guy for them. Gettysburg’s program has produced so many All-American goalies. Their culture and reputation as a goalie academy appealed to me. Gettysburg felt like a tight knit community. It felt like they cared about me as a person. It’s a place I really wanted to go and help bring them their first NCAA title.”
Wes after winning the NCS D2 Championship with Tam High School.
Wes knows about winning titles. Just a couple of weeks ago, he helped lead Tamalpais High School to their first NCS D2 title in school history. “It’s a reflection of the four years of work I’ve put in. I played a little my freshman year and that pushed me to get better. The class above me pushed me hard too. This year, we had the year we’ve always talked about. It’s just unreal. In our league, it’s always been Redwood and Marin Catholic at the top. Now, to have Tam on top, it’s insane to think about. To finish the job like we did, it means a lot.”
“To get to the level Wes is, requires passion on behalf of the kid,” said Jamie. “A lot of what makes them better is what they do on their own. Wall ball, finding shooters, heading to the gym and the field, and working. Wes has worked incredibly hard on his own. You supplement that with what ADVNC has given him and that’s what enabled him to excel and get recruited.”