McLean County Times

Illinois State senior running back Mason King has been named to the preseason watch list for the 2024 Walter Payton Award, an honor given annually to the national offensive player of the year in Division I FCS college football.

Stats Perform selected King as part of a 35-player preseason watch list for the award, which is named after legendary running back Walter Payton and is often referred to as the Heisman of the FCS. All 13 FCS conferences are represented on this list, including 2023 Payton recipient Mark Gronowski from national champion South Dakota State, one of its ten past finalists.

King was recognized as the 2023 Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Year and earned a spot on the All-MVFC First-Team at running back. During that season, he led his team with 983 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, and scored a total of 84 points. The Centralia, Illinois native topped the MVFC with his 14 touchdowns and averaged 98.3 yards per game while achieving an average of 6.6 yards per carry, ranking him in the top ten in FCS last season.

In his first season at Illinois State University following a transfer from Northern Illinois, King was also selected for the MVFC All-Newcomer Team in 2023. He had five games where he rushed over 100 yards. Notably, he recorded a season-high of 170 rushing yards with three touchdowns in a victory over Western Illinois and ran for 169 yards and three scores against Murray State. Throughout the season, King received MVFC weekly honors twice: once as offensive player of the week and once as newcomer of the week.

Season tickets for Redbird Football's 2024 campaign are currently available online at GoRedbirds.com/Tickets or through ISU Athletics Ticket Office by calling (309) 438-8000.

GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App remain primary sources for tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund contributions, multimedia content, Redbird merchandise, photos, and more.