Many basketball fans have heard of the University of Michigan's "Fab Five" basketball team from the early 90s that featured five extremely talented freshman, including former NBA stars Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, and Jalen Rose.

Jim Thorpe Olympians' junior Kayley Kovac was part of her own "Fab Five" this past off-season, playing for the Lehigh Valley Fever AAU basketball squad. Kovac, along with four of her teammates from the Fever were recently honored with All State team nods. Kovac was joined by Abby Kapp (Boyertown, 6A), Tess Brugler (Nazareth, 6A), Abby Schoffsfall (Minersville, 2A), and Ashley Forker (Faith Christian, 1A).Kovac has been honored by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers every year she has dawned the red, white, and blue Thorpe colors. She earned a third team All State selection in her freshman season and has now garnered back-to-back first team selections after earning Class 3A recognition this season."I think playing against the competition she did in the summer and playing with the type of talent that she did on her AAU team is a big reason why you see her on this list with all these really good basketball players," said Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac. "She has learned to play with a certain composure out there and when you have seen and played against as many good players as Kayley has seen over the past year or two, it's just makes you better."Kovac turned in another stellar season for the Olympians, averaging a tad under 26 points per game. Her athletic ability and strong transition game enabled her to get to the foul line an impressive 264 times, converting 177 of those opportunities.Jim Thorpe's all-time career scoring record is well within reach for Kovac next season as the buckets have continued to pile up for the soon-to-be senior. Kovac sits just 44 points shy of the career scoring mark, as she's tallied a total of 1,647 points to date."With the talent pool in 3A this season, I knew it was going to be hard to be honored as a first team selection, it was really a pleasant surprise," said Kayley Kovac. "I love the individual awards, I know my hard work has earned me this honor, but I would trade it all in for a big run at districts next season. My teammates helped me the past three seasons get these awards and I want us all to be able to make a run together."My main goal is just to keep working hard and I know my teammates will too, so we can have a really good season in the winter."Zoscin on1A third teamKovac was not the only Times News area player to be honored for her play on the hardwood in 2016-17 by the Pennsylvania Sports Writers.Weatherly sophomore scoring sensation Emily Zoscin averaged 19 points per game for the Wreckers this past season, helping them to a district playoff berth.Zoscin was selected to the 1A third team, meaning that promising times are most likely ahead for Zoscin and the Wreckers program."I was surprised, shocked, and excited," said Zoscin. "It's just such a great honor and I just really want to thank my teammates and coaches. My teammates are the best, they're so supportive, we support each other and I couldn't have been honored like this without them."Zoscin's off-season regiment is similar to Kovac's with jam packed basketball weekends at showcases and tournaments all over the east coast. Zoscin plays for the ASB AAU basketball squad based out of New Philadelphia, which features a lot of the top players from the Schuylkill League."I've been working hard and playing a lot of basketball against some really good players," said Zoscin. "I think it really improved my game, especially my jump shot and three-point shot. I just have to keep working and getting better. We have a lot to look forward at Weatherly in the coming years."