3. 1990 Southwestern (Detroit)Most college basketball fans are familiar with the Fab Five — Michigan's quintet of talented freshmen that featured four future NBA players and captivated college basketball in 1991-1992.
How many fans are familiar with Detroit's Southwestern Prospectors, who captivated high school basketball in 1990 and featured three future NBA players?
Chris Webber was one of the country's top players at Detroit Country Day, but he nearly attended Southwestern.
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Perry Watson's 1991 squad, which featured seniors Jalen Rose and Voshon Leonard, may have gotten the recognition as the country's top team. But it was the school's 1990 squad, that featured Rose, Leonard, and senior Howard Eisley, that laid the groundwork for the national acclaim.
"That 1990 team would rip your face off before they let you score a basket," said T.C. Cameron, an expert on Michigan high school sports whose upcoming book, Metro Detroit's High School Basketball Rivalries, features the Southwestern team.
According to Cameron, the 1990 team had a hunger for success that was unmatched, brought about by years of failure in the state playoffs.
"After seven losses in the title game of the previous eight seasons, Eisley, Leonard and Rose delivered coach Watson's first championship in the 1990 Class A Finals, a 67-54 victory at The Palace of Auburn Hills," Cameron wrote.
While Eisley and Leonard were sensational in their own right, it was Rose who starred for the Prospectors. He was fearless and confident, traits he picked up while playing on Detroit's city playgrounds. According to Cameron, Rose would dribble down the court, shoot a 25-foot 3-pointer, and turn to head back down the court while the ball was still in the air.
The UNLV Runnin' Rebels, who also featured three future NBA players, won the tournament in 1990 by blowing out Duke 103-73. In all likelihood, the 1990 Southwestern team would have taken down a first-round opponent thanks to its mix of talent and tenacity.
What's even scarier is that Fab Five member Chris Webber, who was a junior at the time, was best friends with Rose; many anticipated him to enroll at Southwestern. Had he not chosen instead to attend Detroit Country Day, he could have been on the 1990 team as well. At that time, he was the best high school player in the country.
Even sans Webber, there's no doubt that Southwestern was more talented than some college teams; their guard play would have given most teams fits, and would have been enough to give the Prospectors a shot at the Sweet 16.
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