iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiillillillillillillilliillillillillillillilliillillillillilil lillillillillillilliillillillillillillil liillillillillillill illiillill ilill llI 111 0 12 - Tipoff '9- Thursday, November 17, 1 0 9 -w _! W 'Old man' King learns lessons on court and off By RYAN WHITE At 21, Jimmy King is ancient. "I'm the old guy around here," says King, a four- year starter. "I'm telling all the young guys, 'Run with me so I can throw the (alley)-oops and you all can dunk it.' I'll just stand out by the three-point line and arc the threes. "I've got the old man's game now." This from a man who was on national television before he could vote, who had a book written about him before he could drink. He arrived in Ann Arbor in 1991 with four other freshmen as part of what was called the greatest recruiting class ever - the Fab Five. For the next two years the group established itself as, if not the greatest class ever, definitely the most famous. Along with Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jalen Rose and Chris Webber, King trash-talked, sagged, swaggered and jammed his way to the final night of the college basketball season - The NCAA championship game, against Duke. It ended in a loss, but began his real education. Lesson No. 1: All good things must come to an end. The Fab Five fast became the biggest name in sports. Loved by millions - and hated by nearly as many - the group amassed 56 wins and only 16 losses in the two years it was together. After the 1992 championship loss to North Carolina the Fab Five lost their first member: Webber went pro. Last year he was followed by Howard and Rose, leaving only King and Jackson at Michigan. "I miss the friendships more than I miss them as teammates," King says. "Of course they're great players, but we built a friendship that's going to last. "Now they're doing their thing. We keep in contact, but it's not as easy with them being somewhere else." Lesson No. 2: When the going gets tough ... The Fab Five hasn't always been kind to King. At this year's basketball media day Wolverine coach Steve Fisher admitted that King had been a sort of stepchild to the departed three while they were at Michigan. He was hidden in the Michigan offense and for the first time in his career he was not a team's go-to guy. This came after a stellar high school career. As a senior at Plano East High School in Texas, King averaged 25. 5 points and eight rebounds a game. He was a McDonald's All-American, earned second team Parade All-American honors and was named "Mr. Basketball" in the state of Texas. Kansas coach Roy Williams has called King one of the best three high school players that he'd ever seen in person. The other two? The New York Knicks' Derek Harper - and Michael Jordan. Moving from center stage was a tough adjustment for King. But he says that despite the fact that he wasn't scoring like he had in high school and he was often in the shadows of his teammates, he never thought about transferring. "You can always think that maybe if I'd have gone someplace else I'd be in the spotlight, I'd average 20 points and be an all- american," he says. "But I'd rather be on a winning team that's going to two Final Fours and a final eight. Being part of the Fab Five and the group of guys I was with never made me feel like I should have gone someplace else." In fact now, even though the individuals of the Fab Five have spread out across the country, King is best defined by the guys he arrived with his freshrran year. They talk often and King says that his best memories of Michigan are just hanging out with the other four. Lesson No. 3: If you're given a lemon, make lemonade. In reality the losses of Rose and Howard, added to Webber's departure two years ago, may be the best thing that's happened to King during his career at Michigan. King is once again the offensive focus, something he hasn't been since high school,hand has the added responsibility of being a leader on a team that is once again full of freshmen. And if anyone knows what's on the horizon for Michigan's newest recruits, it's King. "I know what they're going through, the adjustments they're making from being away from home, and having to compete at this level academically and athletically," he says. "They're adapting well, they're adapting real well." King took over his new role on A classL1 name w( By From the day Chris Webber Ray Jackson pulled on a Wolv simple thing. Their nickname, Fab Five. It was the Fab Five who n NCAA finals as freshmen and It was the Fab Five who v basketball shorts, black socks r It was the Fab Five who rev trading intimidation for gall; heroics for trash-talking; del half-court offense for in-yoi sweet-styling. But somewhere along the wa the individual accomplished w, shadowed - if not forgotten. Now Michigan has another c recruiting class, one that comes equaling the talent-level of the classes are eerie, indeed. Jerod Ward rivals the super Willie Mitchell possesses s Maceo Baston was labeled recruiting guru Bob Gibbons. Maurice Taylor was ranked King was ranked 10th. And point guard Travis Con balances the talents, much like It's not surprising, then, that 1993-94 Final Wolverine Big Ten Statistics Player Rose Howard Jackson Fife Sai nt-Jean Derricks Ndiaye Crawford Bossard Fields Moore: Smith AVG. MIN. AVG. PTS. FG. PCT. AVG. Reb. FT. PCT. 36 31 33 14 10 11 7 6 1 1 1 20.1 19.5- 11 12.1 7.0 3,9 1.8 1.9 2.3 2.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 75.9 71.9 45.6 5.1 541 8.3 46.5 64 17,1 3.2 58.1 2.9 53.3 2.4 40.5- 1.9 38.7 2.3 34.6 0.8 54.5 1.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 0.00 0.0 47.4 34.5 45.5 33.1 75.2 68.3 72.7 677 58.1 36.4 60.0 63.6 33.3 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 68.2 71.0 JONATHAN LURIE/Daily II It has been dunks like this that havei the team last June after Rose and Howard were both taken in the first round of the NBA draft. "When they told me they were leaving I took it upon myself that it was my team - mine and Ray's team," King says. "I'm going to do as much as I can to be ready for whatever is thrown at me so that I can be the best leader that I can." King prepared for the season by staying in Ann Arbor all summer, tackling the books, hitting the made King and the Fab Five national celebrities. weights and working on his all- around game. "I want to improve in all areas (this season): field goal percentage, making more shots, my three-point field goal percentage," he says. "I have to be more consistent in those areas. For us to be a good team I have to do that. "(I have to be) a well-rounded, versatile player so that if one night something isn't going well I have the skills to do something else. That's what I want to bring to the team this year." Lesson No. 4: Just do it King is striving for consistency - his biggest shortcoming thus far. He's had games where he's looked like the player Williams saw in high school and others where he's been hardly noticeable. Last season against Iowa, King had 22 points and capped a Wolverine comeback when he buried a three-point shot to win the Total Team Total Opponents Freshman Maurice Taylor soar Ray Jackson and Jimmy King.