Chris Webber praises and congratulates Beilein and team on championship.

Submitted by fharajli on

Former Michigan basketball player Chris Webber was on the Rich Eisen show a few days ago and to my surprise, he congratulated and praised Beilein and the team. I know he doesn't have the best relationship with the univeristy, Jalen and even some of the fans, but I'm glad to know he still watches from afar. I'm personally a big C-Webb fan, as I know there are many out there who still are as well. Just nice to see him acknowledge coach and the team publicly. Also, gives his insight on the NBA, college basketball and how we can possibly fix the issues it currently has. Good listen overall. 

Starts at 7:50

 

Trie to embed, not working for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3degrsZF-TA

 

KennyHiggins

March 12th, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^

But I love that he chose Michigan

Love the effort he gave as a Wolverine

Certainly wish him the best.  Chris, you CAN go home again.  Heal that nasty wound with your teammates.

Alumnus93

March 12th, 2018 at 6:09 PM ^

Without him and there is no MSU of this high level. They stepped into the void with our self imposed sanctions crushed recruiting. Maybe Beilein brings him back into fold.... All of it was handled poorly on both ends. Yes, he effed up big-time buy he was essentially a child still.

Chaz_Smash

March 13th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^

Don't think there's any need to villify Webber for the Ed Martin fiasco. Things got worse after the Fab Five was gone with the Bullock & Traylor teams, Steve Fischer allowing Martin to hang around, Mateen Cleaves car wreck, etc.

I could watch the clip of freshman Webber dunking on OSU in the regional final OT all day long.

SpinachAssassin

March 12th, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^

The Fab Five was a transformational team and movement in college basketball specifically and sports in general. The idealist in me wishes the relations would thaw a bit.

And C-Webb was ridiculously talented. Ginormous hands that could shoot and pass. I wish he had his head on a little straighter in the early days of Nellie Ball. I think he'll eventually get into the Hall - if T-Mac can then C-Webb CERTAINLY should - but I shake my head wondering what could have been...

Lucky Socks

March 12th, 2018 at 4:25 PM ^

He's definitely polarizing in our fan base, but live and let go I say.  The Fab Five was an incredible run and story and hope they will be acknolwedged as such in the future.  Especially considering what we all know is most likely happening aorund the country every year.  Cool too see Webber giving this small amount of love.  Wonder if Jalen reaches out again.  Real tragedy is what could have been a lifelong friendship fracturing over all this.  

BayWolves

March 13th, 2018 at 9:34 AM ^

Polarizing but shouldn't be IMO. This happened so long ago that it's high time we get past it. Screwed up, yeah but why are so many people still crying over what happend in the early 1990s?  Damn, people!  It's not like he murdered or raped someone. he didn't rub his balls on some girl's face like Peyton Manning.

jmblue

March 12th, 2018 at 4:44 PM ^

While it's nice to hear him praise the team, this thread's a bit misleading - of the nearly 12 minutes in that segment, less than 30 seconds is about Michigan basketball.  He briefly mentions what a nice job Beilein's done and then moves on to the one-and-done rule.

ijohnb

March 13th, 2018 at 9:58 AM ^

wouldn't say that.  He was never really specifically asked about Michigan and went out of his way to praise Beilein and "the boys" on the BTT championship.  It may have been brief but it was at least a glimmer of an olive branch.

LabattsBleu

March 12th, 2018 at 5:17 PM ^

definitely a polarizing figure in Michigan sports history.

That said, I am hopeful that the university, his team mates and Chris himself are able to reconcile eventually.

They were transformative figures in the history of the NCAA...the fact that kids nowadays still talk of them is pretty amazing.

 

Bando Calrissian

March 12th, 2018 at 6:30 PM ^

I'm pretty much in the camp of Fab Five-related threads being treated the same way as Bleacher Report and Mike Valenti, especially the closer we get to the NCAA tournament each year. Don't need to rehash this stuff, nor give these guys the attention they still crave from a fanbase/program that suffered through a lot of bad basketball and scandal because of guys like Chris Webber. Enough, year after year after year.

ijohnb

March 13th, 2018 at 9:45 AM ^

I know it may be a little extreme the other way for him, but he goes out of his way to NEVER be discussed regarding Michigan and his time there.  It may be that Jalen uses March Madness to try to re-live the "glory days" a little bit but this is like the first time in a long time that Webber has even hinted at a recognition of his time spent at Michigan let alone looking for "attention" from it. 

And actually, I think it is pretty cool that King, Howard and Rose and Jackson still identified enough with the Michigan program to come to the Final Four in 2013.  I don't remember seeing any other former Michigan players there, let alone just mingling with the crowd at large.  Not all of these guys should be viewed as some kind of plague, Howard, King, and Jackson never took a penny and have gone on to be very respectable and respected alums.  Jalen has his mis-steps but he is a consensus good guy and still works hard in the Detroit community.

I don't view the Fab Five as some "disgrace" and I don't think most fans do.  What happened to Michigan's basketball team, the Fab Five and thereafter, was multi-faceted and took on a lot of faces.  The actual players themselves, as people, being this "evil" or "forever stain" on Michigan athletics is not one of them, at least not to me. 

ThatTCGuy

March 12th, 2018 at 5:46 PM ^

Despite a lot of our feelings about C-Webb, its always been sort of sad to me that such an important guy in the history of our program basically is in exile from the program. If this leads to a better relationship between him and the university, then that can't be a bad thing.

goblue16

March 12th, 2018 at 6:03 PM ^

I mean he clearly doesn’t hate the team or the current staff. It’s just he’s still sore with the university. What I’m confused is who exactly is he angry at?? The athletic director, entire coaching staff, president, most of the board of regents, Crisler staff it’s all changed. And they’ve invited him multiple times. What’s his deal? I was too young to remember the fab five when they played here am I missing something? He’s rich and successful he doesn’t even need money so that can’t be the issue?

snarling wolverine

March 12th, 2018 at 6:38 PM ^

He met Ed Martin when he was like 12, when Martin tried to recruit him to go to Detroit Southwestern.  The NCAA could have ruled that they had a legitimate relationship since it predated high school (which is supposed to be the cutoff point), but they threw the book at him instead and U-M accepted it.  That would probably be why he's mad.

 

 

ijohnb

March 13th, 2018 at 9:56 AM ^

don't think it is any of that.  At least not the primary reason why he distances himself so harshly from Michigan.  The infractions and the grand jury stuff, I think that is part of it.   But really I think Webber was legitimately traumatized by the Timeout and prefers not to go out of his way to re-live it. 

I think that is why a lot of the other players don't get why he doesn't want to be chummy with them, I don't think Webber wants to remember it like they do.  Think about it.  He is not looking back on the same experience they are.  His personal memory includes probably the worst moment of his life. 

Jimmy King said on the "Fab Five" documentary that he and Webber had never to this day discussed the timeout and that doesn't surprise me.  Webber was 19 years old when that happened, and the biggest star in college sports by a length.   An event like that is not an easy pill to swallow for a kid.  I think that play really kind of actually shaped Webber for years to come and stuck with him. 

True Blue Grit

March 12th, 2018 at 6:38 PM ^

or for what reason.  The fact is and always has been that he lied about what happened to a grand jury and has never publicly taken any responsibility for his part in the Ed Martin scandal.  The same scandal that nuked our basketball program for over 10 years.  Despite that, I'm still open to bringing him back into the Michigan Family again if he shows any kind of remorse, or apologizes for what happened.  He seems to not care about that, so whatever.  

jmblue

March 12th, 2018 at 7:09 PM ^

The same scandal that nuked our basketball program for over 10 years

The sanctions weren't nearly as devastating as people suggest. We were banned from the postseason for one season (2002-03) and lost one scholarship a year for four years (2002-06). That's not really why our program fell apart.

MI Expat NY

March 12th, 2018 at 7:10 PM ^

I'd guess there's some anger at the system that he associates more with the university and athletic department than he does specifically with the basketball program.  From his perspective, he was a world class talent who the university and athletic department promoted and made a killing off of, yet he didn't see any of that money (for purposes of this post, I'm not debating the merits of scholarship money equaling pay).  He may think that as a result of his bitterness over the situation, he was more susceptible to the influences of a two-bit hustler who used Webber in a criminal enterprise leading ultimately to Webber's later guilty plea (obviously leaves out self-determination and questionable decisions even after he should have known better, but just trying to explain how he might feel).  

Amaizing Blue

March 12th, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^

Loved to watch the man play basketball. Loved his intelligence and personality. Cannot forgive the shame he brought to the program and his complete lack of remorse.

UM Griff

March 12th, 2018 at 8:29 PM ^

Until he does, part of the fan base will hold a negative opinion of him.

If he were to own his part in the scandal, he would find most in the Michigan community to be very forgiving.