Each year different publications produce lists of the Top 100 high school prospects eligible to play in the NCAA next year. University and colleges "wine and dine" these recruits, show them around campus, and basically preach the perks of attending their institution. It's considered a good recruiting year if you can land 2 guys in the top 25. In the recruiting class of 1992 the University of Michigan managed to land 4 out of the top 9 recruits in the U.S. as well as another top 50 rated recruit. Chris Webber (1), Juwan Howard (3), Jalen Rose (8), Jimmy King (9) and Ray Jackson (49) all landed in Ann Arbour, Michigan in the single best recruiting score in NCAA history. History is a fitting term to throw around this group because they seemed to rewrite it as well as the culture of sports.

	Players like Sebastian Telfair are choosing to skip NCAA play.

While proponents of the Fab 5 will argue the team never did win a national title, their collective accomplishments are incredible and 12 years later still stand up as unmatched. Let's face it. The feat of starting five star freshman at the same time will never be duplicated. Here's why: 1) landing a recruiting class like the Wolverines did is a one in a lifetime opportunity and 2) the lure of the NBA is too strong these days for high school ballers. Why attend college for 4 years when you can cash in the ultimate lottery ticket straight out of school and provide the type of lifestyle you and your family has dreamed about? This year's high school recruiting class just reinforces my point, as two of the most sought after high school players, Sebastian Telfair and Dwight Howard will forego college and enter into the world of professional basketball.

The Fab 5 only played together as a full unit for two years, but in both those years the team played and lost in the championship final. The first in 1992 when they got beat handily by Duke and the second in 1993 with Chris Webber's infamous timeout call when his team didn't have any timeouts left, led to an eventual North Carolina win. Webber opted out of college hoops after that season and was the first overall pick in the NBA draft. Howard, Rose, King and Jackson managed to make it to the Elite Eight the next year without Webber after which point Howard and Rose chose to skip their senior years and enter the NBA. King and Jackson remained for their senior years with little success. Now we all know that Chris Webber, Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard went on to star in the NBA but what ever became of the other two-fifths of the Fab 5? What happened to Jimmy King and Ray Jackson after their Michigan days?

	Jimmy King now languishes in the CBA.

The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) is home to three types of players: 1) aspiring BBall players trying to showcase their skills for a NBA shot, 2) ageing veterans trying to resurrect their careers and 3) former college stars unable to crack the ranks of the NBA. Jimmy King and Ray Jackson probably fit in the third grouping. After Michigan, only Jimmy King got drafted, but after failing to stick with the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets he went to the CBA where his former teammate Ray Jackson had already been predisposed. Ray Jackson ended up playing in the CBA for several years before ending up in Europe where he has played for the last few seasons. Jimmy King is still in the CBA and plays for the Great Lakes Storm where he averages 14 PPG. Unlike Webber, Howard and Rose, King doesn't play in basketball centric cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. Instead he plays in the arenas of cities like Gary, Sioux Falls and Yakima. Oh and the only Webber Jimmy King plays next to these days is his teammate David Webber who holds no relation to the NBA star.

So what will the legacy of the Fab 5 be? How does a team stay so current in people's minds when they didn't win a national title? Well, the Michigan led Fab 5 teams brought in an increase of 61% in athletic royalties in the two years the Fab 5 were together and their two final appearances were the No. 1 and No. 2 most watched NCAA games in history. Their presence was also felt off the court; the Fab 5 created a new basketball culture. The Fab 5 were the first real impetus of hip-hop culture meeting basketball. They were embraced for their culture, which included the black socks, black shoes, baggy shorts, shaved heads and the youthful swagger they displayed. Chris Webber even appeared on a Naughty By Nature album. Flash forward 12 years later and it's apparent that the NBA and hip-hop culture have a strong marriage. The hip-hop community has embraced the NBA by sporting jerseys as fashion including the immense popularity of throw back jerseys and vice-versa NBA players like Allen Iverson and Shaquille O'Neal have made forays into records, although the hip-hop community still refuses to acknowledge Shaq's efforts at music.

	The unexplainable mystery of Frankie Muniz's ears.

Post Fab 5 era the Michigan Wolverines basketball program has fallen on hard times. The Wolverines have struggled to reach a .500 record and Chris Webber and other former players have had to testify to a grand jury about illegal payments given to former Michigan players through alumni booster programs. If you're naïve enough to think that Michigan was the only school to accept payments from boosters then maybe I can also try to convince you that Frankie Muniz was crossbred with a Dolphin at conception. I mean how else does a person get such small ears directly in the middle of their neck? Can Malcolm in the Middle also detect sonar? It's unfortunate that the payments scandal is one of the last things people will remember about the Michigan Fab 5 era because it really was a special time in college hoops and influenced much of what you see in the NBA and NCAA today.