Detroit Free Press: Rose, King, Jackson appear at Fab Five forum at U-M
November 18, 2016
October 8, 2016 – ANN ARBOR – Jalen Rose said he hasn’t had an in-depth conversation with fellow Fab Five member Chris Webber since 2011.
The former Michigan basketball player from Detroit Southwestern was on campus Saturday for the Fab 5 @ 25 symposium.
The forum was for the Fab Five’s members to discuss their legacy and the other social impacts of their incredible run from 1991-1994 with students and alumni.
What it turned out to be was the next step of the Fab Five mending their relationship with the university since the Ed Martin scandal, which rocked the men’s basketball program with sanctions and an NCAA-mandated 10-year disassociation with Webber.
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“At some point, we all have to get past it (the scandal),” said Rose, who made what he estimated was only his third or fourth appearance on campus since he left for the NBA in 1994. “Hopefully, this is another step in that direction.”
Rose said he and Webber, who did not respond to the university’s invitation to attend the forum, occasionally have small talk when they see each other at NBA games, as both are TV analysts for ESPN and TNT, respectively.
However, the two haven’t spoken on a deeper level since ESPN’s filming of the 2011 documentary, “The Fab Five,” which Webber considered helping with but didn’t make an appearance in.
Rose, as well as fellow Fab Fivers Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, who were both present Saturday, believe Webber and the university will one day put the scandal behind them and mend their relationship.
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“I hope so. I think so,” Rose said. “I’m not sure when, only he can tell that.”
Rose also talked about what he believes the university should do to recognize the Fab Five’s national runner-up teams, saying the school should either hang one single “Fab Five” banner or at least pay tribute to the teams somewhere on campus — away from the Chrysler Center.
Most importantly, though, the former second-team All-American wants the university to recognize the teams for the fans, students and alumni who supported U-M during its basketball runs in the 1990s.
“(We just want to help) those who appreciate what we accomplished and that it gets acknowledge,” Rose said.
“I love Michigan. I just want that to be the focus. We’re back on campus. It doesn’t happen too often.”
The fifth member of the Five Five, Juwan Howard, was unable to make the trip to Ann Arbor because he’s currently an assistant coach with the Miami Heat and is in NBA training camp. However, the Chicago-born center did record a personalized message.
In the end, Rose and his former teammates hope the mending process between the Fab Five and the school continues to move forward.
“What I take from today is it’s still about the student body, still about the supporters that genuinely love the school like we do. They got a chance to share a lot of those memories, and they hope to see that (the university) acknowledges (the Fab Five) in its proper way.”
