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Fab Five (University of Michigan)
USINFO | 2013-07-24 16:21
The Fab Five was the nickname for the 1991 University of Michigan men's basketball team recruiting class that is considered by many to be "the greatest class ever recruited." The class consisted of Detroit natives Chris Webber and Jalen Rose, Chicago native Juwan Howard, and Texas high school basketball stars Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. Four of the five were participants in the 1991 McDonald's All-American Game. At first, only three of the freshmen started for the 1991–92 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team. Although they all played when the season opened on December 2, 1991 against the University of Detroit, they did not all play at the same time until December 7 against Eastern Michigan and did not start regularly until February 9, 1992. In that first game starting together as a regular unit, the five freshmen scored all the team's points against Notre Dame. They started as a unit in all but one of the remaining games for the season. They reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both freshmen and sophomores, while starting a combined 304 of a possible 350 games. However, all of their wins and Final Four appearances were vacated due to Webber (and others) accepting money from Ed Martin, compromising their amateur status.
Four McDonald's All-Americans in a single recruiting class stood as an unbroken record until the 2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game included six members of the entering class for the 2013–14 Kentucky Wildcats team. As students, they helped to bring a popular "Hip Hop" style to the game with their trash talk and by imitating Michael Jordan of the NBA, wearing longer, baggier gym shorts and shaved heads. They also wore black athletic shoes, and black athletic socks. Their controversial antics on the court garnered much attention from the media. They are the subjects of The Fab Five, which was the highest rated ESPN Films documentary ever produced, were one of the featured teams in the two highest rated NCAA Men's Basketball Championship games ever played in terms of households (although not viewers), and were a marketing juggernaut whose merchandise sales even dwarfed those of the 1989 NCAA tournament champion 1988–89 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team.
In the documentary, Jackson noted that this was a special era for Michigan Wolverines athletics. During the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season, Desmond Howard won the Heisman Trophy playing for the 1991 Michigan Wolverines football team. Also, the 1991–92 and 1992–93 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team reached the Frozen Four in the same two springs (1992 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament & 1993 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament) that the basketball team went to the championship game. In addition, the basketball team had won the championship two years before the Fab Five arrived on campus.
Originally, the players rebelled against the moniker and attempted to give themselves the nickname Five Times' (written 5X's). As high school players all five members of the Fab Five were rated in the top 100 of high school prospects in 1991, and four were in the top ten. Chris Webber was ranked #1, Juwan Howard was ranked #3, Jalen Rose was ranked #6, Jimmy King was ranked #9, and Ray Jackson was ranked #84. All but Jackson participated in the McDonald's All-American Game in 1991.
In the elite eight round of the 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Michigan earned a rematch against a Jimmy Jackson-led Ohio State Buckeyes team that had beaten them twice during the regular season by double digits. Michigan won the rematch as all but two Wolverines points were scored by the Fab Five. Despite their talent, they never won a championship. They reached the NCAA championship game as freshmen in 1992 and again as sophomores in 1993. They lost to Duke 71–51 in the 1992 title game and lost 77–71 to North Carolina in 1993, a game which is remembered mostly for Chris Webber's costly "timeout", which resulted in a technical foul as Michigan had no timeouts remaining.
Webber earned second team All-Big Ten Conference recognition in 1992 and first team recognition in 1993. Howard an honorable mention in 1992, second team selection in 1993 and first team selection in 1994. Rose was a third team selection in 1993 and first team selection in 1994. King was an honorable mention selection in 1993 and 1994 as well as a third team selection in 1995. Jackson was an honorable mention selection in 1994 and second team selection in 1995.
Four of the five members went on to play in the NBA. Ray Jackson was the only player of the five to never suit up in the NBA. Jimmy King played two seasons. Juwan Howard was a one-time NBA All-Star and is the only member still active (as of the 2012-13 NBA season). Jalen Rose emerged as a star between 1999 and 2003, leading the Indiana Pacers in scoring the year they won the Eastern Conference (2000). Chris Webber was a five-time NBA All-Star and is the only one of the five expected to get nominated and possibly inducted into the Hall of Fame. As a member of the Miami Heat, Juwan Howard became the first of the Fab Five to win an NBA Championship in 2012. He did not play in the Finals until the final minutes of Game 5, when Miami defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the series 4-1.
Four McDonald's All-Americans in a single recruiting class stood as an unbroken record until the 2013 McDonald's All-American Boys Game included six members of the entering class for the 2013–14 Kentucky Wildcats team. As students, they helped to bring a popular "Hip Hop" style to the game with their trash talk and by imitating Michael Jordan of the NBA, wearing longer, baggier gym shorts and shaved heads. They also wore black athletic shoes, and black athletic socks. Their controversial antics on the court garnered much attention from the media. They are the subjects of The Fab Five, which was the highest rated ESPN Films documentary ever produced, were one of the featured teams in the two highest rated NCAA Men's Basketball Championship games ever played in terms of households (although not viewers), and were a marketing juggernaut whose merchandise sales even dwarfed those of the 1989 NCAA tournament champion 1988–89 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team.
In the documentary, Jackson noted that this was a special era for Michigan Wolverines athletics. During the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season, Desmond Howard won the Heisman Trophy playing for the 1991 Michigan Wolverines football team. Also, the 1991–92 and 1992–93 Michigan Wolverines men's ice hockey team reached the Frozen Four in the same two springs (1992 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament & 1993 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament) that the basketball team went to the championship game. In addition, the basketball team had won the championship two years before the Fab Five arrived on campus.
Originally, the players rebelled against the moniker and attempted to give themselves the nickname Five Times' (written 5X's). As high school players all five members of the Fab Five were rated in the top 100 of high school prospects in 1991, and four were in the top ten. Chris Webber was ranked #1, Juwan Howard was ranked #3, Jalen Rose was ranked #6, Jimmy King was ranked #9, and Ray Jackson was ranked #84. All but Jackson participated in the McDonald's All-American Game in 1991.
In the elite eight round of the 1992 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament, Michigan earned a rematch against a Jimmy Jackson-led Ohio State Buckeyes team that had beaten them twice during the regular season by double digits. Michigan won the rematch as all but two Wolverines points were scored by the Fab Five. Despite their talent, they never won a championship. They reached the NCAA championship game as freshmen in 1992 and again as sophomores in 1993. They lost to Duke 71–51 in the 1992 title game and lost 77–71 to North Carolina in 1993, a game which is remembered mostly for Chris Webber's costly "timeout", which resulted in a technical foul as Michigan had no timeouts remaining.
Webber earned second team All-Big Ten Conference recognition in 1992 and first team recognition in 1993. Howard an honorable mention in 1992, second team selection in 1993 and first team selection in 1994. Rose was a third team selection in 1993 and first team selection in 1994. King was an honorable mention selection in 1993 and 1994 as well as a third team selection in 1995. Jackson was an honorable mention selection in 1994 and second team selection in 1995.
Four of the five members went on to play in the NBA. Ray Jackson was the only player of the five to never suit up in the NBA. Jimmy King played two seasons. Juwan Howard was a one-time NBA All-Star and is the only member still active (as of the 2012-13 NBA season). Jalen Rose emerged as a star between 1999 and 2003, leading the Indiana Pacers in scoring the year they won the Eastern Conference (2000). Chris Webber was a five-time NBA All-Star and is the only one of the five expected to get nominated and possibly inducted into the Hall of Fame. As a member of the Miami Heat, Juwan Howard became the first of the Fab Five to win an NBA Championship in 2012. He did not play in the Finals until the final minutes of Game 5, when Miami defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder to win the series 4-1.
