DALLAS, Texas — Jimmy King had a laundry list of accomplishments during his basketball career.

It all started more than 30 years ago when he was filling up the nets at Plano East High School. And for one night, King was back in his castle when he was honored by the program in early January.

“Very nostalgic looking around the gym, seeing the banners and then looking around and seeing old friends and family,” King said. “I almost cried a little bit. I got choked up.”

King was named Mr. Basketball in 1991 and was the first Texas high school basketball player to be named a McDonald’s All-American. He’s also still the Panthers’ all-time leading scorer.

“Talk to anybody that’s a Plano person, they can talk about the energy and the buzz that was here in the early 90s, and how the gym was full and how electric his dunks were,” said Plano East coach Matt Wester.

A swagger that he took to the University of Michigan in 1991, where King and the other members of the Fab Five changed basketball forever. 

“The baggy shorts, that was something that was kind of a progression over the time because of the era, hip hop era,” King said. “The black shoes, black socks are actually from [fellow Fab Five member] Ray Jackson and myself... that was really out of the box, so we extended it to a national level at Michigan.”

The current Plano East players were educated on the Fab Five last summer, when the entire team watched the ESPN documentary.

“Then we got to introduce Jimmy to them the next week, so it set up perfectly,” Wester said. “It meant a lot to him.”

And it meant a lot to be back at his home gym to watch the top-ranked Panthers get another victory. 

“We just wanted to come out here and play as hard as we could, let him know that his effect a long time ago is still affecting us even today,” said Plano East senior Jordan Mizell. “Trying to play as hard as we can every game.”

And hoping to join Jimmy King in basketball royalty, providing memories for another generation of fans at Plano East. 

“Just to see the people that it meant so much to besides myself and my family,” King said. “People that have come back to support me and to see how much it has made an impact on them and their life.”