Beilein still hopes to embrace Fab Five

SAN ANTONIO — The Fab Five was a rather large side story during Michigan’s last trip to the national title game in 2013. This year, not as much.

That was the 20th anniversary of the team’s last game together and the interest surrounding Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King was on full display. Four of those players — all but Webber — sat together that night in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome for the title game.

Those four have had some semblance of a relationship with the program since finishing their time together in 1993. John Beilein was asked Sunday about why the university doesn’t embrace the group. Michigan’s head coach offered a correction.

“The university acknowledges that team,” Beilein said. “The NCAA has just put certain restrictions on that team for what we can do. We love the Fab Five, and we continue to reach out to the Fab Five and that team. It wasn’t just five guys on that team, now. That was a team of champions as well.

“That period is over with. But we are doing everything we can and then everything else lines up to. We have a lot of things still going on in the future. We have more banners to raise. We have more jerseys to raise over time. Just stay tuned to all that.”

Webber was, of course, disassociated from the program for a span of 10 years (ending in 2013) after being linked to former booster Ed Martin in a scandal that resulted in every game of the 1993 season being vacated and both the 1992 and 1993 Final Four banners being removed from the Crisler Center.

The disassociation is over, though it’s still up to Webber to have a relationship with Michigan. Whether or not that happens is anyone’s guess. Beilein said earlier in the tournament he’s hopeful he can bring back former coach Steve Fisher for a reunion celebration soon.

As for the rest? He won’t stop trying.

“When you have the NCAA violations in there, that’s a time that it takes some time to heal,” Beilein said. “But I’m looking forward to the times when we get everybody in that group together and all of that isn’t under our control, if you understand that. That’s not all under our control. And if invitations are sent and they’re not accepted, then that’s okay, we just keep doing it.

“The Supremes [said it]: One day we’ll be together. We’ll get it all together at one time.”

COACHING MEMORIES

Over four decades of coaching, Beilein has a relationship with just about everyone in some way. Villanova’s Jay Wright is no different.

Wright, 56, recalled meeting Beilein during the 1980s when he was an assistant Division II Rochester and Beilein was running Le Moyne’s program. They both played against each other in the Big East when Wright took the Nova job and Beilein was at West Virginia.

Their wives played tennis together. There’s plenty of mutual respect.

“[He’s] just nicest guy in the world,” Wright said Sunday. “I was a first-year coach. He was always really friendly. But the recruiting back then was, in upstate New York, we would recruit guys all year, then John would wait until the end of the year, because he had the scholarship, we didn’t.

“You’d be on a guy and you’d just hope you wouldn’t see John in the gym. And, like, in April, he’d pop in and he’d see you. You’d say, are you going to take him, John? He goes, ‘yeah, I’m sorry, but we’re going to take him.’ … He was young [then], too. But just the greatest guy.”

FAMILIAR STYLE

Villanova set an NCAA record with three-pointers made in a season when it reached 454 during Saturday’s win over Kansas.

The Wildcats routinely play with five shooters on the floor. This is how Beilein has been trying to play for years.

“It’s like we like to play as well, and it’s a great concept. It’s one I’m very familiar with. It doesn’t mean we can stop it,” Beilein said.