Chris Webber’s lengthy estrangement from the University of Michigan may be coming to an end based on comments he made in a new interview.
Webber spoke to ESPN’s Myron Medcalf about his life and career as he prepares for his upcoming induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Among the issues he touched on was his estrangement from the University of Michigan. Webber was the most notable member of the Fab Five, but infamously became involved in a booster scandal that led to the school banning him for 10 years and erasing him from the history books.
Webber did hint, however, that he is preparing to move on, especially after receiving an apology from current Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel.
“I was told [that] by the University of Michigan. I was told by the athletic director at the University of Michigan [Warde Manuel], that he was sorry,” Webber said. “And he wasn’t even there at the time [I was playing]. He told me that he did his research and that he needs to apologize. His exact words [were], he needs ‘to apologize to the 18-year-old Chris Webber because we didn’t protect him.’
“I was the lowest-hanging fruit. I had the biggest name. I knew that then, so hopefully some of the things in [my upcoming book] will reveal what happened, how things happened and hopefully just life can go [on] or it can just get back to normal in that way. Hopefully, once we address all this good stuff, we’ll get back to it.”
Webber said he’s already planning to return to Michigan to observe practice under coach Juwan Howard, another member of the Fab Five. Webber added that the biggest thing yet to deal with before a proper Fab Five reunion can happen is his rift with Jalen Rose, but suggested that it could be easily solved in private.
“I’m going to see Michigan practice. Me and Juwan [have been] on the phone,” Webber said. “But there has been that rift because Jalen has decided to talk and I’ve said we should handle everything behind the scenes. It was just, it’s an honor system. It’s a code. And he knows what that is because that’s what we built the Fab Five on and he did not adhere to that code multiple times. His family told him multiple times and that is what happened. And I still love him. That’s my boy. … All it takes is a 30-second conversation.”
Webber has watched Michigan basketball from afar and has actually seen relations thaw with the school in another surprising way. While it sounds like relations with Rose are still strained, there are indications that work has been done on that, too.
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