WRAL Sports Fan

College Basketball

Wish becomes reality for NC Central's King

Dec 4, 2012

One look at the NC Central basketball roster and you'd look right past 5'11'', 190-pound freshman Rashawn King. He's a walk on for head coach Levelle Moton's Eagles but that tells you nothing about what this kid means to this team.

"I heard about his story," said Moton. "It was overwhelming at the time."

King's story made its way around town quickly. We first told you about it a couple of years ago and it's only getting better. He beat a very serious diagnosis for Leukemia – which had doctors fearing for his life. When granted one wish from Make-A-Wish he elected to meet LeBron James, only to change his mind at the last minute and choose to feed his entire school instead.

"When I gave back to Middle Creek. I felt something was going to happen to me," said King.

And it has. Moton watched King's high school career, thought he was a talented player and gave him a shot to live out his dream of playing college basketball.

"He came by here and said Coach, I want to play basketball and that's how Rashawn ended up here," Moton said.

A chance, was all King was looking for but he got much more from Moton.

"When he elected to feed his school, I just said. I've got to get this kid to meet LeBron," said Moton.

Moton used his professional connections to make that happen when the Heat came to Raleigh to play the Bobcats in October. There were no cameras, just King and his hero.

"I was going to ask LeBron a thousand questions. I just froze up," said King, "all you saw were teeth and braces."

"He gave me the classic, I'll never wash this hand again," said Moton.

The excitement didn't end there for Rashawn, a month later, the Eagles up by 20, he achieved a dream doctors once told him wasn't possible making his college debut.