Michigan's 'Fab Five' getting back together for Final Four alternative broadcast
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Michigan’s “Fab Five” made up one of the best college basketball recruiting classes, period. They transcended the game with their swagger and progressive on-court fashion.
Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson — the first all-freshman starting lineup to reach the national title game — are woven into Wolverines lore, and, with their alma mater back in the Final Four, they’re reuniting.
The group, which took Michigan to consecutive national title games in 1992 and 1993, will be part of an alternative broadcast on Saturday, watching along as this year’s Wolverines face the fellow top-seeded Arizona Wildcats in an NCAA tournament semifinal.
The alt-cast will air following the first game of the day, a showdown between No. 2 seeded UConn and No. 3 seeded Illinois that’s set for a 6 p.m. ET tip in Indianapolis.
The Fab Five’s reactions, analysis and storytelling will be broadcast on truTV and HBO during the Michigan-Arizona game, Warner Brothers Discovery announced in a statement that circulatedThursday.
Fans looking for the traditional broadcast can turn to TBS, TNT and HBO Max.
“It’s going to be great, and we’re excited about it,” King told the Associated Press on Thursday. “It’s a symbol of our support of the University of Michigan, especially because our team is doing so well in the tournament. The team has looked good all season, being dominant and setting records and the way they’re doing it, it’s been fun to watch.
“We want to just come together and be fans of guys on the cusp of doing something historical.”
Michigan is in the Final Four for the first time since 2018. That year, the Wolverines reached the national title game, only to fall to Villanova. The last time the program won it all was 1989.
Led by the Fab Five, who were later chronicled in a 2011 ESPN documentary, Michigan reached the doorstep of championship glory twice. That said, with a banner on the line, the Wolverines lost to Duke in 1992 and to North Carolina in 1993. And because Michigan players, including Webber, were later found to have received laundered money from a booster, the 1992 Final Four appearance was vacated, and so was the team’s entire 1993 season.
The scandal strained the relationship between Webber and the program, which the NCAA prohibited Webber from associating with for 10 years, as reported by the AP. But, with time, that connection was restored.
Webber, Howard, Rose and King all wound up playing in the NBA. Webber played only two seasons with the Wolverines before becoming the No. 1 pick in the 1993 draft. Rose and Howard left for the league after the 1993-94 season. Meanwhile, both King and Jackson played four seasons at Michigan.
Howard served as the Wolverines’ head coach from 2019-24. He took them to the Elite Eight in 2021. He coached graduate forward Will Tschetter and graduate guard Nimari Burnett, both of whom are part of the 2025-26 Michigan squad playing Saturday.
