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Jalen Rose Explains How the Fab Five Changed Sneakers

Jalen Rose says his Michigan Wolverines team changed the sneakers landscape in college basketball.

Pat Benson

Jalen Rose Explains How the Fab Five Changed Sneakers
Jalen Rose Explains How the Fab Five Changed Sneakers /
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It is important for basketball fans to pass down knowledge to the younger generations. That is especially true when it comes to the impact the Fab Five had on college basketball and sports culture in the early 1990s.

Baggy shorts, black socks, and fresh sneakers were not always the norm. In fact, it was considered revolutionary when Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, and Jimmy King formed one of the greatest squads in NCAA history and did things their way.

Although they never won a championship, and some of their wins were later vacated, the Fab Five left a mark on the sport that will last longer than any banner. In a recent interview on the Earn Your Leisure podcast, Rose explained how his Michigan Wolverines teams changed the sneaker game.

Rose recounted a story of the team forcing equipment managers to come back with new bags of Nike sneakers four times to please the picky players. Rose insisted they wanted the same signature sneakers worn by two-sport athletes like Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson, which were not performance basketball shoes.

Rose continued, "That's how we ended up wearing the [Charles] Barkley's and ended up wearing the Huaraches. That became a Fab Five shoe that's been re-released to this day." The basketball legend is not wrong about the enduring popularity of the sneakers worn by the Fab Five and how it is now common for college basketball players to wear the best new footwear available.

Luckily for online shoppers, they can purchase retro Nike Air Huarache sneakers and Michigan Wolvers gear on the Nike website. With the college basketball season tipping off tonight, fans can expect more legends to be made on the court this year. Be sure to check back every day for all your sneaker news from the sports world.

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Pat Benson
PAT BENSON

Pat Benson covers the sneaker industry for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Previously, he has reported on the NBA, authored "Kobe Bryant's Sneaker History (1996-2020)," and interviewed some of the biggest names in the sports world. You can email him at 1989patbenson@gmail.com.

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