SN Archive: Chris Webber’s timeout marks unceremonious end of Michigan Fab Five (May 17, 1993, issue)

SN Archive: Chris Webber’s timeout marks unceremonious end of Michigan Fab Five (May 17, 1993, issue) originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

This article, ‘Webber Will Allow The Timeout To Stand‘ by Gene Wojciechowski, originally appeared in the May 17, 1993 issue of The Sporting News.

The Fab Five is fabulous no more.

Gone is Chris Webber. Gone, too, are Michigan’s chances of winning a national championship in the foreseeable future.

Webber shocked no one when he announced last week that he was forgoing his final two years of eligibility to join the NBA.

The warning signs were obvious. During the NCAA Tournament, Webber looked as if he was having all the fun of someone enduring a wart removal. Michigan won games, but there seemed to be no joy in the victories, only relief.

SN ARCHIVE:Access 140 years of full issues, for free

Then came Webber’s infamous and, unfortunately for Michigan, illegal timeout call that guaranteed North Carolina a national title. It marked the second consecutive season that Michigan had advanced to the final game and lost.

Two days after the Wolverines’ heartbreaking defeat to the Tar Heels, Webber was in Los Angeles for the John R. Wooden Awards presentation. He said all the right things: He hadn’t decided… he was considering his options… he still needed to discuss his future with Coach Steve Fisher.

At one point, Webber even said he hoped that the imaginary asterisk positioned next to his name (in memory of The Timeout), would one day be replaced. Said Webber: “I hope one day I have an asterisk that says, ‘He won a national championship.'”

Yes, well, so much for that.

When it came time to make an actual decision, the lure of wearing a championship ring and remaining in college finished a poor second to the lure of the NBA and the money that goes with being selected in the first three picks. “Not winning a college championship makes leaving hard to do, but that’s not going to make or break me,” says Webber, whose news conference audience included his parents, as well as Fisher.

SN 140:Ranking college basketball’s greatest teams of all-time

It might not make or break Webber, but it will make or break the Wolverines.

There will never be another Fab Five.

– Chris Webber

The All-America forward led Michigan in nearly every major statistical category. As for intangibles, Webber led the team in thunder dunks, intimidation and heart and soul.

Four of the Fab Five remain, but only center Juwan Howard has shown the ability to control the game as Webber did on a nightly basis. And Howard could do it only occasionally. Jalen Rose? Talented, but maddeningly inconsistent. Jimmy King? A wonderful player, but not the centerpiece of a team. Not yet, at least. Ray Jackson? See King.

Of course, there are worse problems than to have four returning starters from a team that has won 56 of its last 71 games and advanced to the last two championship games.

SN 140:The greatest 140 sports moments, ranked

But also remember that with Webber, the Wolverines were unable to win a Big Ten title or championship rings. Also notable is the recent decision by prized 6-foot-1l center Avondre Jones to accept a scholarship offer to Southern California. Jones, a teammate of Charles O’Bannon (who signed with UCLA), made his decision a week or so before Webber declared himself ready for the NBA. Fisher could have used him.

“There will never be another Fab Five,” Webber says. “You can put that name in a safe because that’s the last time you’re going to see it. You’re never going to see five guys come in like that as freshmen again.”

Too bad for Fisher, Michigan and college basketball, that you’re never going to see another sight: Webber as a junior or a senior.