Knicks' Julius Randle Earns 'Great Honor' & Surprise From High School

New York Knicks All-Star Julius Randle was granted a surprise invitation to immortality upon returning to his high school.

It's not the rafters of Madison Square Garden but Julius Randle's No. 30 will hang in perpetuity at the site of some of his greatest hardwood accomplishments.

The New York Knicks' All-Star returned to Prestonwood Christian Academy (TX), one of the origin sites of his basketball journey on Friday morning. A special surprise was in store for New York's leading scorer: led to believe that he'd be presenting the boys' basketball team their state championship rings, Randle instead learned that his jersey, bearing the same No. 30 he wears with the Knicks, would be retired by the Lions' athletic program.

Randle was the only one in his family unaware of the honor to come: his wife Kendra and his sons Kyden and Jayce were in on the gambit and watched with pride as his digits were immortalized. They were chief among the well-wishers assembled in the Prestonwood gym, a group that also included Randle's former teammates and coaches. 

"My family did a good job of keeping it secret," Randle said, in a report from Matt Welch of Star Local Media. "They told me that I had to get dressed up, so I was a little curious but everyone kept the whole thing under wraps."

"(Also) my brothers, man, not just for what we were all able to accomplish together on the court, but just how much fun we all had in school. It honestly felt like a big party. We're all still really close to this day."

As a senior Lion, Randle averaged over 32 points and 22 rebounds a game in 2012-13 and earned McDonald's All-American honors. He would play that success into several Division I offers, eventually accepting the one from the University of Kentucky. 

A season in Lexington yielded first-round honors in the 2014 NBA Draft, where he'd go to the Los Angeles Lakers with the seventh overall selection. He has since found a home in New York after spending his first five seasons between Los Angeles and New Orleans and his Knicks tenure has yielded two All-Star invites, becoming the first Knick to earn multiple nominations since Carmelo Anthony (2012-17). 

It all began at Prestonwood in Plano, just over 20 miles away from his native Dallas.

"The jersey retirement is a great honor It reminds me of what I've been able to do on the court when I played here, but it's more about the community of people who helped raise me and poured into me as a kid," Randle said. "That matured me and just having that kind of support throughout my career has meant a lot."

Though he last donned PCA's gold and navy a decade ago, Randle's impact is felt in its halls to this day. 

"He's talked about often. Any time you have a great game, it gives you a little pride that he was a PCA Lion," current Prestonwood head coach Jeff Clarkson said. "He came through these hallways and came through this gym ... Any time my guys can walk in and see him work out, they see what it takes. It doesn't just happen because you're tall. Just to be around that and watch him flourish and work has been really special."

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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