University of Michigan men's basketball coach Steve Fisher gathered his players in front of a chalk board in the visitors' locker room at Notre Dame's Joyce Center. The Wolverines, 13-5 and ranked No. 15 nationally, were in South Bend, Ind., to play a nonconference game Sunday, Feb. 9, 1992.
Fisher listed the five Irish starters on the board and then named which of his starters would guard each of them. As he had for the previous several games, he ticked off four freshmen _ Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard and Jimmy King. But instead of calling junior James Voskuil's name, Fisher told a fifth freshman, Ray Jackson, to guard Notre Dame's Daimon Sweet. While the five freshmen howled in delight, Voskuil's spirits crashed.
"I felt humiliated," he told sportswriter Mitch Albom.
When Michigan took the floor to warm up, the "Fab Five," as the news media had begun calling them two months before, huddled tightly together. "This is what we've been waiting for," Webber said.
"Our time," shouted Rose.
"Show the world," Howard added.
"Let's give 'em some (expletive)!"
The youngsters won, 74-65, dominating the game with speed, deft passing, aggressive defense and unbridled enthusiasm, to say nothing of trash talking and bravado. Courtside, NBC TV analyst Al McGuire chided the teenagers for their "hotdogging," and said, "It's too early for jivin', men, too early for jivin' "
The game marked milestone in the brief, meteoric career of the Fab Five at Michigan that reached its first crest 25 years ago next week. It's a story of enormous athleticism and challenges to conventions in both basketball uniforms and on-court demeanor. But hidden below that flash and achievement lurked a secret that would later impact University of Michigan athletics.
