Shaheen Holloway and his Saint Peter men’s basketball team are the talk of the sports world right now, as they’ve knocked off Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue en route to an improbable run to the Elite 8.

Just one win away from reaching the Final Four heading into Sunday’s game against no. 8 North Carolina, the Peacocks are in that nation’s spotlight. It’s a first for many of these young men, but not for their head coach.

With his sudden rise in popularity, people are suddenly finding out that Holloway was actually quite the hooper himself during his early years. In fact, the Saint Peter’s head coach once outplayed THE Kobe Bryant during a high school All-Star Game.

The year was 1996. Shaheen Holloway was one of the top recruits of his class. So, like all the best high school players his age, he was invited to attend the McDonald’s All-American Game. There, the 5’10” point guard played alongside shooting guard phenom Kobe Bryant.