Back In The Day NBA

Led By Jalen Rose, A Mighty Detroit High School Team Once Had Three 1990s NBA Players

Shandel Richardson

March 22, 1990; Detroit, MI, USA; FILE PHOTO; Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973 in Detroit, Michigan) is a retired American professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' \"Fab Five\" (along with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson) that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both Freshmen and Sophomores. Rose's biological father Jimmy Walker was a former #1 overall pick
March 22, 1990; Detroit, MI, USA; FILE PHOTO; Jalen Anthony Rose (born January 30, 1973 in Detroit, Michigan) is a retired American professional basketball player. In college, he was a member of the University of Michigan Wolverines' \"Fab Five\" (along with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson) that reached the 1992 and 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as both Freshmen and Sophomores. Rose's biological father Jimmy Walker was a former #1 overall pick / Detroit Free Press-USA TODAY NET

There are many stacked high school basketball teams throughout history that featured NBA talent.

Reggie Williams, David Wingate, Muggsy Bogues and Reggie Lewis starred together at Baltimore Dunbar before reaching the next level. Donnie Boyce, Sherrell Ford and Michael Finley, who each made the NBA, teamed at Proviso East to make one of the squads in Illinois history.

There are many others but one that gets overlooked is the 1990 Detroit Southwestern team featuring Jalen Rose, Howard Eisley and Voshon Leonard. They won a Michigan state title before embarking on successful pro careers.

Rose, of Fab Five fame at Michigan, was a lottery pick in 1994. Leonard and Eisley were both second-round picks the same year.

All had much success at the next level.

Rose played 13 seasons, winning the league's Most Improved Player award in 2000. That year he helped the Indiana Pacers reach the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant Los Angeles Lakers.

Eisley, too, had a taste of the Finals. He was the backup to John Stockton on both Utah Jazz teams that lost to the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in 1997 and 1998.

Leonard chose to return to the University of Minnesota after being drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks. He had to take the CBA route to the NBA, but had six productive seasons with the Miami Heat. He teamed with Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway to help the Heat reach the Eastern Conference finals, where they lost to the Bulls.

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

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Shandel Richardson

SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com