Jalen Rose Details How Dice Game Led To Freaknik Road Trip With Fab Five Members

Shandel Richardson | Aug 25, 2024

Jalen Rose hosted his 12th annual fundraiser for Jalen Rose Leadership Academy on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022, at Detroit Golf Club. Rose / Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK

Freaknik was once the biggest Spring Break destination for black college students during the 1990s.

It returned to the spotlight earlier this year when Hulu released a documentary for the event that featured parties, dancing, drinking, smoking and everything else done by young adults. Former NBA player Jalen Rose made an appearance in the documentary.

"I heard about Freaknik when I was young, and I had cousins that went to Morehouse," Rose said. "I was like, 'I can't wait till I get older so I can go,"'

Rose, who was drafted in 1995 by the Denver Nuggets, told a story of how a dice game led to him driving to Atlanta for the party while he was playing at the University of Michigan. At the time, the Wolverines featured the famous Fab Five that included Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King.

Rose explained how winning at dice led to him making the drive from Michigan with King and Jackson.

"So what ended up happening was that I shot dice a lot when I was in college," Rose said. "Rest in peace, [former Michigan teammate] Chris Wilson. His father had a car dealership in Detroit, and they used to have some big dice games, and I went to one, and I won a down payment to a 10th anniversary edition Honda. The next day, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, and I got on the road and drove it to Freaknik."

Jalen Rose explaining how he drove to Freaknik in a car he won in a dice game, this Hulu documentary is a good investment of my time. pic.twitter.com/IxBKN8QrBr

— Ian Cohen (@en_cohen) March 22, 2024

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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