(Men's Basketball, 1993-95)
Frankie King played just two seasons for Western Carolina under head coach Benny Dees in the mid 1990s. Yet his name factors prevalently among the all-time greats to have ever worn the Purple & Gold.
A transfer from Brunswick Community College where he twice earned Georgia Junior College Player of the Year plaudits and was the scoring champion, King was a unanimous two-time, first team All-Southern Conference performer who twice claimed the SoCon's scoring title. He also landed on the SoCon All-Tournament team two times including MVP honors in 1995. King is also the only Catamount men's basketball player to ever claim SoCon Player of the Year honors more than once, garnering the media's top honor in 1994 and the coaches' top player honor in 1995.
King scored 752 points as a junior in 1993-94 to rank fourth on WCU's single-season ledgers for points in a season, and followed it up with 743 as a senior in 1994-95, the sixth-best year in school history. His 1,495 career points in just two seasons continues to rank 12th in school history. King recorded 30-or-more points in 22 games over his two seasons in Cullowhee. He ranked inside the top three nationally in individual scoring average both seasons including third in scoring in 1993-94 (26.9 ppg) and ranked second his final season at 26.5 points per game.
All told, King's name remains on four of Western Carolina's single-season charts and is on three of the career ledgers. He was also featured as one of 12 players listed on WCU's All-20th Century team.
In 1995, King was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the eighth pick of the second round, 37th overall. He opened a 12-year professional career by playing in the NBA with both the Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers from 1995 through 1997. King additionally played professionally in several European countries including Spain, Greece, Germany, France and Turkey, as well as in Israel and Venezuela. He returnedstateside for a season with the CBA's Gary (Ind.) Steelheads in 2003-04 before retiring in 2007.
A 1991 graduate of Appling County High School, King returned in the winter of 2011 to see his jersey No. 24 retired by the school.
Courtesy WCU Athletics Media Relations
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