"Pretty good job so far:" Rufus King one of the best teams in local basketball; this year's no different



MILWAUKEE -- Generally speaking, the Rufus King International High School Generals are one of the teams to beat in high school basketball each season -- and this year's campaign is no different.

Rufus King Basketball Coach Jim Gosz



It is starting to come together at King High School this basketball season, which means the Generals are starting to play with Coach Jim Gosz's trademark defensive intensity.

"They're doing a pretty good job of it so far -- but it's a start over mentality every November," Gosz said.

"The key would be defense, full court pressure. That would be the key here. If you play defense, you're going to play. If you play defense, you're going to win," Virshon Cotton, Generals junior guard said.

Tyrail Trussell



"I don't think Gosz will ever change that. If you can't play up on your man and make it hard for him to score, if you let it be easy for him, then you won't play," Tyrail Trussell, Generals senior guard said.

Jordan Poole is only a junior, but he's already heading to the University of Michigan on a basketball scholarship -- and in his third year on varsity, he knows what this program is all about.

"Having Rufus King on your chest is a big accomplishment, so you want to come out and play as hard as you can every game," Poole said.

Jordan Poole



Poole knows that there is more to life than just basketball, and he has become a standout in the hallways of life as well.

"He has the ABC's of basketball. He has the academics. He has the basketball part of it, and his conduct is good. Those three things are able to open up a lot of eyes around the country," Gosz said.

"The very first thing they ask for is transcripts. My guidance counselor did a very good job. She made sure I had all my core classes, but when they found out I had such a high GPA, they were like 'whoa,'" Poole said.

Virshon Cotton



Cotton is one of the Generals who is still working toward his next goal, and he's already made a lot of progress in rounding out his game. He has always had an outside shot though.

"Freshman year, I started out at Milwaukee Vincent and I was playing varsity and I was real, real slinky, so I had to figure out something for it to work, so I had to work on my jumper," Cotton said.

Gosz always makes it work. He has more than 500 victories in more than a quarter century on the King bench. He is molding another squad into his kind of squad.

Rufus King International High School basketball



When the state tournament is played in Madison in March, the Generals expect to be one of the kings of the court.