In honor of Juwan Howard being named head basketball coach at the University of Michigan, we take a look at where each member of the legendary Fab Five are now.
There are not many teams in the world of sports that have impacted the game and the culture as did the “Fab Five” Michigan teams on basketball on all levels.
When a group of the top prospects in the country decided to join forces, the Fab Five was born. During the 1991-92 college basketball season, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson turned college basketball on its collective head with their athleticism, brash play, swagger, and fashion choices
Before long, baggy shorts, black socks and bald heads were all the rage among basketball players across the U.S.
While they never won an NCAA championship, they got to the final two years in a row.
Last week, Howard was named head coach of the Michigan program he helped build. With that monumental moment, let’s check in to see what the Fab Five are all up to these days.
Chris Webber
Webber became the most highly regarded Michigan recruit since Magic Johnson after averaging 29.4 points and 13 rebounds per game for Detroit Country Day School, leading them to three state championships. He left Michigan after two years and became the #1 pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. He played 15 years in the NBA, making 7 all-star appearances.
Today, Webber is a television analyst for TNT. In 2018, Webber, with old age makeup, played the role of Preacher in the film Uncle Drew, which starred Kyrie Irving.
Jalen Rose
Rose was a star at Southwestern High School in Detroit, where he became one of the top recruits in the nation. If you look closely, Rose can be seen at a high school All-American camp in the documentary film Hoop Dreams, building his profile even more. He was the leading scorer for the Fab Five.
Rose was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft and went on to play 13 season in the NBA. He would also go on to found the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy and is also an ESPN on-air personality and analyst.
Juwan Howard
Howard, who played his high school ball at Chicago Vocational, was another top-tier recruit. While not as flashy or athletic, he was the glue and the most mature of the Fab Five. He was the team’s third leading scorer.
Howard was the 5th pick in the 1994 NBA Draft and played 19 years in the league. After spending a few seasons as a player/coach and assistant coach for the Miami Heat, Howard has just been hired as the Wolverine’s head basketball coach.
Jimmy King
King was the Fab Five’s shooting guard from Texas, where he starred at Plano East High School. King sacrificed a lot of his game at Michigan for the betterment of the team. He shot an astounding 46.7% from 3-point range during the 1991-92 season.
King was selected with the 35th overall pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, lasting until the second-round. He played two years in the NBA. In 2016, King began his coaching career as he became the head coach of the Ecorse Community High School men’s basketball team in Ecorse, Michigan.
Ray Jackson
Jackson, from Lyndon B. Johnson High School in Austin, Texas, was the lowest ranked and least heralded member of the Fab Five. He thrived on defense and came off the bench when needed.
After playing four years at Michigan, Jackson went undrafted in 1996. He was cut by the New York Knicks after a tryout with the team and never played in the NBA. Jackson now lives in Austin, Texas where he owns a moving company and Rise Up, a non-profit organization that assists children socially, educationally and on the basketball court.