30 for 30 Fab Five Analysis

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Matt Coughlin Anna Scanlon English 1001-145 4 December 2013 Under Pressure It is obvious that the 1990’s were an era of trendsetting and rebellious acts. From pop culture to fashion to sports, the world was changing. Although sports were the slowest to come around, it was only a matter of time. Little did the world know that the face of basketball would forever change with the help of five young college freshmen. In 1991, the Fab Five of Michigan University men’s basketball team impacted America’s traditions and morals. These five young, outspoken, rash African Americans not only stormed the court, but the media too. Making Americans question all that they knew, the Fab Five’s “us against the world” attitude and controversial decisions revolutionized basketball, for better or for worse, all while leaving behind a legacy of family and love. Coming off a championship season in 1989, the Michigan Wolverines acquired what is coined to be the best recruiting class in college history. In 1991, Michigan signed five of the nation’s top fifty high school recruits, and thus began the Fab Five era. The squad consisted of Detroit’s Chris Webber and Jalen Rose, Chicago’s Juwan Howard and Texas’ Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. Stepping on to the court for the very first time, the Fab Five players made quite the statement. Jalen Rose felt uncomfortable in traditional uniforms so he initiated the idea of wearing knee long, baggy shorts instead of the typical “hip huggers” worn by almost all the NBA players at the time. That was not the only fashion statement the team made; several games later, the team started to wear black shoes and high black socks that you see many basketball players wearing today. As a rag-tag group of kids with bald heads and baggy clothes, the Fab Five players were perceived as unorthodox and profiled as hoodlums. Like Jalen Rose pointed out, “we

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