Faried attended Technology High School in Newark, New Jersey.Berman, Zach. "With NBA draft in his hometown, Newark native Kenneth Faried will see dream fulfilled", The Star-Ledger, June 22, 2011. Accessed January 14, 2018. "Without traffic, it takes less than 10 minutes to get from the Zion Towers to the Prudential Center — north up Elizabeth Avenue, past Lincoln Park on Clinton Avenue and into downtown Newark on Broad Street. If only the path had been that easy for Kenneth Faried, a Newark native who will realize his dream in that building at Thursday’s NBA Draft." Due to his lanky physique and low standardized test scores, he was not heavily recruited out of high school, only receiving interest from Iona College, Marist College, and Morehead State University. He ultimately chose to attend Morehead State, citing their persistence as the deciding factor.
