After the 1971–72 season, assistant coach Norm Ellenberger was elevated to head coach, and King served as Assistant Athletics Director the next season. King then left to become head coach and Athletics Director at Indiana State University. In 1976, he recruited future NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird to ISU, where he led the Sycamores to a 48–12 record in his first two seasons. King suffered a heart attack and brain aneurysm shortly before Bird's senior season, however, and his assistant, Bill Hodges, led the team to the 1979 Final Four, where they lost to Michigan State in the championship game. King continued as AD until retiring the next year.