LAS VEGAS, N.M. — After leaving Mankato East four years ago, Chop Tang has lived a basketball journey that’s taken him from Minnesota to Iowa to Arizona to Wisconsin and finally New Mexico.

But with each stop, Tang has continued to expand and improve his game, and he returns to Mankato this weekend as a different player than he was with the Cougars.

“I’m happy to come back,” he said. “My game hasn’t changed much. I play more outside than I did in high school, but I’m about the same. I’m excited to see everybody and my family, but I’m going (to Mankato) to win a championship.”

Tang is playing at New Mexico Highlands (20-10), which takes on Augustana is the first game of the Central Region men’s basketball tournament at noon today at Bresnan Arena.

This is the fourth school for Tang, who still holds East records for single-game points (49), single-season points (601) and single-season field-goal shooting (64.7 percent). He stands second in career scoring (1,254 points) and third in career rebounds (601). In 2005, he helped the Cougars get to the state tournament where they finished third.

East coach Joe Madson still talks with Tang on occasion, more since it looked like Tang would be coming back. Madson had a different relationship with Tang, almost fatherlike, as he helped him through the recruiting process.

“I like to follow all of the kids who have gone on to play,” Madson said. “It would have been nice if he could have played a couple years at one place, but that didn’t happen. It looks like things have worked out for him (at Highlands).”

Tang, a 6-foot-6 forward, has grown from a post player at East to a perimeter threat at college. His career started at Southeastern Community College in Iowa, but the coach was fired after his freshman season so Tang transferred to Eastern Arizona Junior College, near where his brother lived.

He got Division I offers from Texas-El Paso and Wisconsin-Green Bay, and he chose Green Bay, in part because his mom still lived in Mankato. He lasted nine games with the Phoenix before transferring.

“I just didn’t agree with the coach there,” Tang said. “Some of the stuff he told me was a lie to get me there. After that, I wanted to go D1, but I would have had to sit out a year so I went D2.”

Tang knew Roman Andrade, a former teammate at Eastern Arizona, who was at Highlands, so that was where he ended up, enrolling for second semester last year.

He’s fit in nicely as the team’s leading scorer at 13.9 points per game and leading rebounder at 5.3. He’s shooting 51.0 percent from the field, including 33.7 percent from 3-point range, and 73.4 percent on free throws.

“He’s been really good,” coach Joe Harge said. “When he’s on his game, we’re tough to beat. I’m sure this will be a special weekend for him.”

Highlands secured the national-tournament berth by wining 11 of the last 14 games and making it to the championship game of the RMAC tournament. The Cowboys were just 1-26 two years ago before making a 19-win improvement last season. This season, Highlands made another jump by advancing to the national tournament for the first time, playing an up-tempo, full-court style.

“We’re very athletic, and we like to fly up and down the court,” Harge said. “We throw it at the rim, and we have the guys who can go get it. We usually put on a good show.”

All of which fits Tang’s skill set.

Tang is excited to see his family and some old friends, and his team got to practice at East earlier this week, bringing back a lot of good memories. But this is not a social visit.

“I want to win the region,” he said. “We have to play one game at a time to advance. It’ll be nice to see everybody, but my goal is to win three games.”