Jalen Rose: "[UM does not] have a family-type atmosphere"

Submitted by MGoBender on

Submitted without commentary, Jalen Rose knocked UM for their treatment of former players:

“Every Michigan coach has left unceremoniously, even the greatest coach in the University of Michigan history, the only coach that’s taken the school to three Final Fours and well as won a national championship, Steve Fisher, and also the Fab Five – Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King – who played in two Final Fours and national championship games, two of the seven that the university has had since the 1900s,” Rose continued, his voice rising.

“So when you’re not able to have a family-type atmosphere where everybody feels welcome and feels like their contribution to the school is noted from a basketball and or football perspective, the relationships become fractured, and that’s something Michigan has to improve on. Michigan State, when you watch their games, it could be a guy that averaged two points, but the fans are going to celebrate him and treat him like he’s family. That’s why Michigan has lagged behind Michigan State in basketball, and frankly, right now, that’s why Michigan State has evened the playing field.”

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/01/24/jalen-rose-predicts-msu-victory-…

In reply to by ijohnb

Prince Lover

January 25th, 2014 at 3:21 AM ^

Had the same agent as Kobe Bryant, he would get his due. Whatever happened to Eric Riley? Do he and James Vosguil ever hang out and decry their unappreciation? Maybe....just maybe.

Yeoman

January 25th, 2014 at 1:28 PM ^

Eric Riley does, in fact, decry their underappreciation...at the time, by their Fab Five teammates and by the head coach.

http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20110312/forgotten-five-member-…

 

"We felt like it was split. It felt like it was two different teams," Riley said, referring to the Fab Five and the Wolverines players that were there before their arrival. "We had experience, and some of us had been on a team that won a national championship (1989). But we felt like we were just part of their team."

 

...

 

"That was Coach (Steve) Fisher's first recruiting class. We knew he wanted to bring in his own guys, and he let the upperclassmen pretty much know they didn't want us and we were free to go if we wanted to," Riley said in a phone interview with The News-Herald.

 

Riley was a 2nd round NBA pick  If a player of his talents was left to feel he wasn't wanted and was free to go, something was wrong with the family atmosphere at the time. That's the kind of stuff I hate Calipari for.

 

ChiCityWolverine

January 24th, 2014 at 6:00 PM ^

Comments taken out of context. Jalen loves Michigan and has always been upset that it doesn't seem like Michigan loves him back. Webber took some money, but the rest of the Ed Martin scandal centered on players after the fab five. Fact is, Michigan basketball is very awkward in celebrating former players. This was not an attack on the current coaching staff at all, but one against the athletic department and administration.

charblue.

January 24th, 2014 at 6:23 PM ^

especially the notion that the Fab Five were all guilty of taking money from boosters. Not so. It was the class that came after them who were the real problem and Webber and Rose were implicated by their past connection to Ed Martin, the real villain in the entire case. 

Whether Michigan went overboard in punishing itself and the legacy of those players is another debate. And whether Michigan has been slow to forgive and welcome them back is also a debatable matter. But the idea that this school and program doesn't promote a family atmosphere and live up to it, requires greater evidence than a broadside from Rose. 

And today it just sounds out of context and unjustifiable even if its all about recognition that he he feel hasn't been properly levided. 

Maybe Jalen could help promote the healing he seeks if he were to do more reaching out to Belein and the program instead of channeling old rants about a past that actually helped launch the very career of Michigan's arch rival that he claims is so welcoming to its player alums. Michigan State was the huge winner with the sinking of the Fab Five era. 

He ought to consider that as well. 

ChiBlueBoy

January 24th, 2014 at 6:00 PM ^

I love the man. I really do. He is who he is. He will tell you exactly what he thinks. There are times when I'm with him 100% and times when I'm not. This is one where I'm not, but he was a hell of a basketball player and I truly believe, in his heart, he's a good, honorable man, if occasionally led by emotions more than reason.

UnkleBuck

January 24th, 2014 at 6:02 PM ^

What the hell is he talking about? So I guess the retired jerseys in the rafters, wall display honoring Cazzie, and reunions honoring past teams don't mean anything. As a young boy I was told "if you're gonna bring up a problem, you better bring up a solution." Maybe its high time Jalen shuts up and brings the family together himself.

charblue.

January 24th, 2014 at 6:10 PM ^

.he thinks this is helpful in making his connection and the Fab Five era more meaningful. 

What's the point? No family atmosphere because the school won't fly your team's banners? That's got nothing to do with it. 

If Jalen watched the press conference today announcing the hiring of the school's 14th president, he might have gotten an inkling what this school values and the kind of emphasis it places on access, diversity, student passion for education learning and athletic competition. 

 

Wolverine Devotee

January 24th, 2014 at 6:11 PM ^

I've always wanted the Fab Five celebrated but I am so SICK of hearing about them.

Maybe this was okay back in 2011 when the documentary came out. But Michigan is fresh off a Final Four, is 6-0 in the conference having beaten two straight top-10 teams and soon to be three after Saturday, and he is still bellyaching about shit that happened years ago?

Very immature. Every time Michigan is in the spotlight it seems he feels the need to bring some upon him and his never ending crusade to get to the banners that will NEVER go back up up.

If I were Michigan, I'd just give him the damn Runner-Up banner he covets so much from the basement at Bentley and be done with it.

You don't see the 1989 guys (who get 1/4 of the attention the Fab Five guys get) begging publicly for attention. BTN goes and demands them for a documentary. Oh, and that one actually has a happy ending.

cbs650

January 24th, 2014 at 6:12 PM ^

I'm am not from Michigan, didn't go to Michigan and my fandom for Michigan comes from he Fab Five and guys like Tim Biakabutuka. Although Jalen may be going about things the wrong way he has a point. Jim Harbaugh trashed UM's academics and doesn't seem pro Michigan, a lot of the former players don't seem to be as involved with he bball or fball teams. Lloyd Carr was by all accounts encouraging players to transfer when he retired. I believe Hoke and Beilein have family atmospheres with in the teams they coach but I think Jalen is talking more about former players.

Marley Nowell

January 24th, 2014 at 6:13 PM ^

Jalen feels alienated from the university because they distanced themselves from the whole Fab Five era.  This is probably unfair but it is what it is and I hope he gets over it for his own sake.

cp4three2

January 24th, 2014 at 6:17 PM ^

They won that won without breaking any rules and with all eligible players, according to the investigation and ruling. (Webber became ineligible after winning the Elite 8 game, and thus their regional, but before playing the Final Four game)

 

Then move on. 

ClearEyesFullHart

January 24th, 2014 at 6:16 PM ^

I like all the things he has done for the city of Detroit, and for making Michigan "cool".  But at some point he needs to stop saying controversial things for the sake of publicity.  You're relevant man.  You're talented.  You don't need that.

allintime23

January 24th, 2014 at 6:20 PM ^

Always on the eve of a big game. Look at me, I need your attention. You had your day and you were great. Unless you've got positive stuff to say, keep it to yourself.

lilpenny1316

January 24th, 2014 at 6:22 PM ^

“I’m going to give you a dirty family secret that Michigan State has done better since 1979 than the University of Michigan has,” Rose began. “They’ve done the absolute best job of number one, having staying power, with Judd Heathcoth and Tom Izzo, so now the players that played for those two coaches are still a part of the fraternity, they’re still welcome as family, whether it’s to stand on the sideline at a football game, whether it’s to be acknowledged at a basketball game. They feel loved, they feel appreciated."

M-Basketball has had stepchild status until very recently.  When the Fab Five was there, sellouts were a rarity and they were the hottest thing in college basketball.  

Basketball players talk to each other, so who knows what has come up when talking with Steve Smith, Shawn Respert or any of those other guys from the 80s and 90s.  Maybe they know more than we do and that's why there seems to be this disconnect between us and them.

Giordano Bruno

January 24th, 2014 at 6:40 PM ^

His analysis of the two programs is the idiotic icing on the nonsense cake.  If anything, M is pulling even with MSU after many years in the wilderness, a wilderness they arrived in due entirely to events which transpired under the nose of Steve Fisher.  The "family atmosphere" he cites is nothing more than the end result of having the same coach there for over 30 years (counting his time as an assistant).  We could have had that too had we not had to shitcan Steve Fisher for Weber's and others misdeeds.  He could still be here today for Christ's sake.  Jalen feels shafted, and rightly so in some ways.  But he needs to be an adult and realize that the glory that he was a part of was due in part to the fact that ineligible players were on the court.  He should stop blaming the athletic dept. or whomever and look inside.  I am sure he will get his recognition at some point in time, but I am afraid that it wil only come after he has embarassed himself countless times while slandering the University we love in the process.

ppToilet

January 24th, 2014 at 7:41 PM ^

Is it that: opinions are like asses, everybody's got one.

Or is it: every ass has got an opinion.

Either way, Jalen is entitled to his opinion and I'm not privy to all the ins and outs of what's going on. I enjoyed watching him and his teammates play for the University of Michigan. I'd like one "I'm sorry" from Chris Webber and then hopefully to start over. The shenanigans from Ed Martin and Chris Webber cratered the program for about a decade (well, the administration had their hand in it too).

I almost wonder whether Jalen is worried that the current era of Michigan basketball may surpass his own...

highestman

January 24th, 2014 at 6:25 PM ^

This sounds like someone thinking it's greener on the other side. He makes assumptions about states atmospheres with just annecdotal evidence. He has no idea what it's like actually being an athlete there, of course things look that way when compared to his experience

evenyoubrutus

January 24th, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^

So he wants us to be like Ohio State then? Bring back people who were found to have committed major violations that resulted on massive school sanctions and raise them up on our shoulders?

evenyoubrutus

January 24th, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^

So he wants us to be like Ohio State then? Bring back people who were found to have committed major violations that resulted on massive school sanctions and raise them up on our shoulders?

MGrad

January 24th, 2014 at 6:31 PM ^

I admire Jalen for everything he did for the university and for his work in the Detroit community. This makes it hard for me to evaluate what he says without it carrying some weight through my rose-colored glasses (pun intended). None of us know the inside scoop as well as the coaches and players that wore the maize and blue proudly (including CW). I suspect that Jalen has reached out more than once and received a cool response. I am sure that frustrates him. He is a passionate person who clearly cares deeply. I hope it all gets reconciled some day soon because he is good man and I would like him to feel welcome anywhere on campus at every level.

UMfan21

January 24th, 2014 at 6:36 PM ^

What an idiot.  First off, excuse us for not celebrating Steve Fischer, the coach you blindly ignored the payment of players which set the program up for 15+ years of failure.  Yes I know Brian Ellerbe...yada yada yada.  Steve Fischer caused it and he was fired for it and deserves little fanfare.



Secondly, about Jalen's butthurt-ed-ness:  The school had a non contract clause with you for ten years!  What were they supposed to do? 



Sounds to me like Jalen was hoping Mary Sue was the one keeping the Fab Five at a distance.  Maybe he reached out to the new president and found out he's not going to throw a Fab Five reunion either and that hurt his ego.  That's my theory.

Love the Fab Five, big part of my childhood and the memories will be there regardless of the banners or records.  But Jalen needs to shut up.  I swear behind him, Daniel Horton insulting Beilein in 2011 and Braylon's mouth, we have the whiniest bunch of former athletes.

snarling wolverine

January 24th, 2014 at 6:36 PM ^

Here's an idea: Give Jalen the Final Four banners.  Let him hang them in his house, do whatever he wants with them.  We're not going to recognize games that the NCAA has vacated, so we may as well get rid of the banners.

B1G_Fan

January 24th, 2014 at 6:37 PM ^

 The fab five where awesome. They marked the height of Michigan sports popularity. Everyone back then was a Michigan fan. I think the school should show them a little more love. If Michigan had embraced them instead of condemning them at every turn, the last 15-20 years of Michigan basketball/ sports would have went a lot different.

 Weber messed up sure, I still loved the guy. I can see not hanging up the banners but some recognition at their alma mater is needed. They changed the face of college basketball and where easily one of the best teams ever.

Nitro

January 24th, 2014 at 6:42 PM ^

This is Jalen taking a stand for Chris Webber - nothing more, nothing less. He wants his friend from childhood to be made to feel like a welcome part of the Michigan family. He feels like a family wouldn't ostracize a family member for past mistakes. Since Chris is family to him, Michigan doesn't like family, so he's upset.

ppToilet

January 24th, 2014 at 7:46 PM ^

He's standing up for Webber. But Webber needs to own up to his mistake and apologize. If Webber thought of U of M instead of just himself, he would have already done it. But the problem is this has always been about Webber and not the Michigan family.

Mr Miggle

January 24th, 2014 at 6:48 PM ^

“As a former player, you want to come back and do whatever you can to support your program,” Rice said. “In the past, that reach hasn’t been there. One thing Beilein is stressing to all of us is we need to bring it back to where it used to be, and he can’t do it by himself. He needs all of us as a collective group, and now it’s up to us to give our time and do the right thing.”

GRFS11

January 24th, 2014 at 6:53 PM ^

You know who will be welcome back?  Unconditionally?  And it's already happening?

 

Trey Burke.

Tim Hardaway, Jr.

Zach Novak.

Stu Douglass.

Manny Harris.

CJ Lee.

David Merritt.

Jordan Morgan.

 

They certainly seem to feel welcome and part of the Michigan network, just look at their public comments and Twitter.  I include JMo because he will be the next one to go.

turd ferguson

January 24th, 2014 at 7:23 PM ^

Let's add LaVell Blanchard to this list.  No one got screwed by Jalen and company as badly as Blanchard did and yet he was nothing but graceful and classy all the way through.  Every time I hear Jalen whining about this stuff, I think about what Blanchard must think when he hears it.

cbs650

January 24th, 2014 at 8:00 PM ^

it's funny u say that because I wonder if he and guys like Ron Coleman, Courtney Sims, Josh Asslien, Chris Hunter, Daniel Horton and others feel like Jalen do. Have these guys been involved with program since leaving Michigan? Are they welcomed? This really what Jalen I believe is gettin at. At UNC, the former players always are back in Chapel Hill playing pick up with current team in summer. This should be happening at UM.