Jalen Rose: "That's Why I'm Lucky To Have Had Juwan Howard In My Life"

The Fab Five got off to a hot start during the 1992-93 season, defeating No. 5 North Carolina and No. 2 Kansas in back-to-back games. By the time the regular season came to an end, the Wolverines would earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and begin the journey toward their second consecutive national championship appearance.

However, the Fab Five would need to find a way to defeat No. 2 Kentucky in the Final Four before heading off to face No. 4 North Carolina in the championship game. In an article for the Players Tribune, Jalen Rose describes the challenge the Wildcats posed to the Wolverines.

“The Fab Five might have been the most talented team in college basketball, but any objective observer would admit the Wildcats weren’t far behind,” Jalen wrote. “That team had Tony Delk, Walter McCarty and Jamal Mashburn, all of whom would go on to be very good NBA players. And their biggest weapon might very well have been Rick Pitino, another Hall of Fame coach.”

“Their style of play, which involved a suffocating press defense and a run-and-gun offense with an emphasis on three-pointers, was quite similar to what we see among the great teams in the NBA today. It was innovative, and definitely not fun to play against. Up until they faced us, they were beating teams in the tournament by 30 points. Just dismantling them.”

When the Wolverines and the Wildcats finally squared off at the Louisiana Superdome, the matchup was everything it was expected to be. The two programs traded blows throughout the game, ultimately going into overtime after Rose missed a difficult pull-up shot from the top of the arc. Rose would get another shot during the overtime period to close out the Wildcats and punch the Wolverines’ ticket back to the national championship.

With Michigan up one point, Rose would strip the ball away from Kentucky center Rodney Dent with 22 seconds left. Rose was immediately fouled and, with an opportunity to put the Wolverines up three points, let his emotions momentarily get the best of him. Teammate Juwan Howard came to the rescue.

“I unnecessarily overreacted because I was caught up in the intensity of the game,” wrote Jalen. “Immediately after the play, I remember talking to myself, trying to calm down. It’s something you eventually learn to do as a professional, but when you’re a young, immature kid playing in a big game, you have to learn to keep your emotions in check.”

“That’s why I’m lucky to have had Juwan Howard in my life.”

With two crucial free throws coming up for Rose, Howard immediately noticed that his friend and teammate needed to regain his focus.

Jalen continued:

“Everyone needs people who serve as their guiding forces. Nobody makes great decisions all the time, so you need to surround yourself with people who make better decisions more often than you do, or you’re in the wrong group. Juwan was the type of guy you would never see without a fresh haircut and a crease in his pants. Even though we were the same age, he knew how to mentor me and be a positive influence.”

“These free throws were huge for us, and I wasn’t completely focused because of my anger. Serving his role as a great teammate and friend, Juwan noticed this and walked me all the way down the court with his arm around me so I could get in the right frame of mind. That’s not something that shows up on any box score, but it can be a deciding factor in a game.”

After walking the court with Howard and regaining his focus, Rose would walk to the line and calmly sink both free throws.

The two free throws would ultimately send the Wolverines back to the national championship game to face North Carolina for a second time that season, and Jalen Rose still credits that win over the Wildcats as the biggest win for the famed Fab Five squad.

“Those shots gave us a three-point lead that we wouldn’t relinquish. By my estimation, beating Kentucky in the Final Four was the Fab Five’s biggest victory ever.”