I am sticking with the basketball theme from last week. However rather than focusing on one superstar, I will be switching it up and talking about five of them. This was one of the more memorable books that I read during college. The nationally recognized author, Mitch Albom, truly brings to light the legendary tale of the Fab Five. I learned about the Fab Five through the Big Ten Network that I used to watch all the time as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota. This group of 1991 freshman at the University of Michigan revolutionized the college game by introducing a hip hop twist. Longer, baggier gym shorts, shaved heads and trash talk were now here to stay. The Fab Five also famously copied the NBA’s greatest showman Michael Jordan and notably wore black basketball shoes and black socks.

The Prologue to the book and the first chapter aptly titled “The Greatest Class Ever Recruited” sets the tone for a very entertaining read about youth, extremes, veterans meeting rookies and most importantly five black basketball players shocking the world. Having had the dream of playing Big Ten basketball myself, I found the author’s behind-the-scenes approach really enlightening especially when it came to how recruiting was handled at a top division one school.

You would think that the first chapter would start off with more accolades being shelled out to the Fab Five, but instead it focused on the rise of the small town basketball coach Steve Fisher. This book is expertly written and one for the ages. I am going to end this article with some of my favorite quotes from the book that really stood out.

"What scares you Jalen? Death," said Jalen, "...because I can't imagine a world without me in it."

The swagger of the Fab Five is catchy and gives you inspiration because reading the book informs you on the trials and tribulations that they still had to go through. Another quote by Albom which was again from Jalen Rose was, "they'll be talking about us for 20 years." This definitely still holds true about the Fab Five and they will be talked about for many years to come.