Monday, March 14, 2011

The Fab Five

For the 1992 NCAA basketball season, The University of Michigan recruited five freshman to play for their team. Four were ranked 12th or higher on the list of top ranked prospects, all five were in the top 50, and one of them was the top pick. By the middle of that season, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson were all starting and wowing fans with their impressive play and stirring controversy through their on the court brashness and off the court antics. The team, whom many called underperformers, would go on to lose two NCAA titles, and cause the university to receive sanctions for receiving booster money. Through interviews with the five with the exception of Webber who declined to participate and coaches we get a sense of what it was like to be a part of this phenomenon that helped change the game of basketball to what it is now, for better or worse. Intercut with game footage and personal footage of the time, the film is nicely arranged by director Jason Hehir. The members of the team do come off as entitled and selfish, and their attempt to portray themselves as victims is laughable.