The Fab Five leader — the most celebrated college freshman in history and the timeout that never was.
Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1973. He arrived at the University of Michigan as part of the Fab Five — the most celebrated freshman recruiting class in college basketball history, alongside Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King. Michigan reached the national championship game in Webber's freshman year, losing to Duke, and returned the following year, losing to North Carolina. Webber averaged 19.2 points and 10.1 rebounds per game across two seasons. He was a consensus All-American and Naismith Award finalist. His most remembered moment is one he would rather forget: with Michigan trailing North Carolina by two points with 11 seconds remaining in the 1993 championship game, he called a timeout Michigan did not have — a technical foul that effectively ended his title hopes. The timeout call has been dissected endlessly in the decades since. It subsequently emerged that Webber had received impermissible benefits from a Michigan booster, leading to sanctions against the programme and the vacating of those tournament records. Golden State Warriors selected him first overall in the 1993 NBA Draft and immediately traded him to Washington. His Fab Five years — the baggy shorts, the black socks, the cultural identity — changed college basketball forever.
National Championship runner-up 2x (1992, 1993)
Career Honours
- National Championship runner-up 2x (1992, 1993)
- All-American
- Naismith Award finalist
- First overall pick (1993)