Peter Burditt
Staff Writer
If you are a college basketball fan you know the famous term of the “Fab Five.” The term refers to the Michigan Wolverines men’s basketball team of 1991 that consisted of five freshmen who started and were the most dominant players on the team. Nonetheless, they thought they were the cream of the crop at the age of 18 and had ego’s as big as their shoe size. Now, you may ask why I’m referring to this and the reason is because this potentially could have happened to our men’s basketball team this season; thanks to the addition of 9 freshmen out of the 16 man roster.
However, quite the opposite happened and there is “NO FAB FIVE” according to third year head coach Brian Emerson.
As soon the freshman arrived on campus, the first thing they did was meet with the entire team to go over what identity they wanted to uphold throughout the season. What they came up with were four pillars that they try to live by as a team. Those pillars being “Trust, appreciation, balance, and selflessness.” Which are more than just words and the proof of this is the seamless integration of the freshman class.
In most collegiate sports teams, hierarchy seems to play a big role and can evidently cause some animosity throughout the team. However, this was far from the case with these guys. When asked if there was any such conflict amidst the team, captain Mackie Garwood (C ‘22) stated “Not at all,” and said if anything the team has made sure, “we bring our best every single day.” Forward Colin Kahl (C’ 23) agreed, saying “They inspire me to work harder, which I was not expecting.”
Continuing on this theme of the unexpected, the upperclassmen were not alone. The freshman also had their obvious doubts about being new to the team, but that was quickly alleviated. Guard Tre Corrigan (C’25) from North Carolina felt that the team “became friends right away” and that despite their age, “they all had a voice.”
In concurrence to the team’s four pillars, the team’s unification has made their “chemistry the strongest part of the team,” said Corrigan.
They narrowly lost their first game against Berea College 73-84 on November 6.
Despite the obvious pursuit of a win, Coach Emerson and the rest of the team still have some additional goals in mind. One being that “with so many new guys, we just wanna play our game” and “we want to force other teams to adapt to us, rather than us adapt to them.”
