When you think of Binghamton Greats, you think of King Rice, who comes in at #2 on Fox 40's Top 40 Most Impactful Local Sports Figures.

Rice was born in Broome County and raised in Binghamton, playing pick-up ball at Rec Park and Columbus Park and as a 12-year-old even threw a no-hitter in Little League before Central and North merged. As a middle schooler, Rice was coached by Hank Nanni before making Coach Tom Corgel's varsity squad as an eighth grader.

Rice starred for the Binghamton Patriots as their starting point guard and led BHS to an undefeated regular season in his sophomore campaign. After, the Pats won nail-biter after nail-biter in the state tournament before trouncing perennial powerhouse Mount Vernon in the public school state championship. Binghamton lost the overall state title to All Hallows on a controversial ending where Mark Young's game-winning shot was waved off.

Either way, Rice and Co. marched on, bringing Broome County its first-ever state championship for basketball.

But King wasn't just dominant on the court, he was an All-Metro running back his sophomore and junior seasons, rushing for over 1,700 yards across the two seasons. The Patriots marched through their 1985 football season, finishing atop the New York State ranking and 17th in the country according to the USA Today rankings. That football team is still hailed as possibly the greatest in Section IV history.

If that wasn't enough, Rice made it three state titles in two years when basketball season came around, finishing a nearly perfect season with one loss to Vestal to spoil what would have been a 26-0 season. This time around, Binghamton won the Overall Championship and was named the Class A Tournament MVP.

Rice and co. couldn't threepeat his senior season, but King's recognition grew from statewide to nationwide as powerhouse college coaches packed into the BHS gymnasium to watch the Patriots point guard. Rice was named Mr. New York Basketball and a McDonald's All-American before committing to Dean Smith's UNC where he started 83 games in four years and made one Final Four appearance. Rice ranks sixth all-time among Tarheels in assists.

After his playing days, Rice served in several assistant roles, acted as the Bahamas National Team coach and has resided in New Jersey since 2011 as the Monmouth men's bench boss. Rice has earned three regular-season titles and two NIT berths with the Hawks.

Despite not living in Binghamton anymore, King has not forgotten his Section IV roots one bit, creating the Astor D. Rice Foundation, named after his father, to serve the Triple Cities. In fact, this past year, two Section IV hoopers have received scholarship offers from Rice's team (Zubayr Griffin & Luka Ioannisci).

For more on King and his involvement with Binghamton to this day, check out the Pats Big March here.