Clubhouse Article

ESPN Films: The Fab Five

March 28th, 2011 by Colin M Jarman

ESPN FILMS presents THE FAB FIVE
starring Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson

Directed by Jason Hehir
Produced by Three Tier Entertainment

How five college freshmen ignited a basketball revolution.

ESPN Films’ The Fab Five is a two-hour documentary about one of the most famous – and infamous – teams in college basketball history.

Arriving on the campus of the University of Michigan in the fall of 1991, five freshmen – Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson – electrified the college game, whilst bringing a new brand of braggadocio to the masses with their baggy shorts, black socks and brash talk.

The quintessential quintet started as a unit for two years taking the Wolverines to back-to-back NCAA championship games. Known as much for their off-court style and swagger as their on-court skill and showmanship, the Fab Five quickly became the most controversial team ever witnessed in college basketball. However, the team’s impressive playing record was to be overshadowed years later by a number of incriminating improprieties and headline-making activities that plagued the players during their NBA careers.

Now, in their own inflammatory words, the original Fab Five relive their college days: the recruitment process that got them to Ann Arbor, the cultural impact they made, the two runs to the NCAA title game, the Webber ‘timeout’ that cost them the 1993 championship and the scandal that eventually tarnished their accomplishments.

Forget what you remember or may have heard about the Fab Five – this film will show them in an entirely new light.

As Jimmy King observes of his teammates, “Five black kids from the inner city at a university that prides themselves on being very traditional.”

The Fab Five, the latest production from ESPN Films, becomes ESPN’s highest rated documentary in the US, according to the Nielsen Company.

QUOTES ABOUT THE FAB FIVE and the ESPN FILM

Jalen Rose

ESPN NBA analyst and Fab Five member Jalen Rose on producing the film for ESPN: “We really went in-depth about everything: the good, the bad, the ugly, the scandal, how we felt people saw us and we’re really excited about how the film came out … For those that had no clue about the Fab Five until they sit down and watch this documentary, they are gonna get a wealth of knowledge about what made us tick. But also for those who didn’t like us, I think this is gonna make it worse.”

For more from Jalen Rose on the film check out his chat with Sportsnation on ESPN.com.

Thomas Neumann – Page 2 on ESPN.com: “There is little debate in the college basketball world that those five players, who joined the Michigan Wolverines as freshmen in the fall of 1991, represent the greatest class ever recruited. Perhaps the most misunderstood, too. Eventually known worldwide as the ‘Fab Five,’ each member of the quintet was rated in the top 100 of national recruits in the Class of ’91. Four of them – Webber, Howard, Rose and King – were rated in the top 10.”

J.A. Adande on ESPN.com: “The Fab Five provided a player-powered revolution, the first of its kind in college hoops. Freshmen weren’t allowed to play during John Wooden’s dynasty days at UCLA. Dean Smith didn’t let the North Carolina sports information department publicize freshmen. John Thompson didn’t let the media talk to his freshmen during their first semester on campus. The Fab Five never faced such restrictions. They were on the court their first season. Instead of being strictly limited to clocked minutes at a podium, they had casual time around the media, like Muhammad Ali in training camp or Joe Namath by the pool before the Super Bowl. Their personalities emerged: Jalen the jester, Juwan the serious one and Chris, scowling on the court and flashing a high-wattage smile off it.”

Keith Clinkscales, senior vice president of ESPN Enterprises: “The Fab Five captured the essence of the ESPN Films’ mission … Our director Jason Hehir, capably worked with our own Jalen Rose and executive producer Connor Schell’s team to deliver an unfiltered look at the team that changed college basketball forever.”

Connor Schell, executive producer of ESPN Films: “Through high-quality production and storytelling, we have established a real connection with sports fans …The Fab Five is the latest example of the increased commitment to differentiated, original programming by ESPN Films.”