Lew Alcindor nearly went to Michigan (link)
I vaguely knew that we recruited Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), but didn't know he considered transferring here. Even after graduating he wrote in Sports Illustrated as an NBA rookie that "UCLA was a mistake" because he didn't like campus life.
Really interesting article.
https://theathletic.com/178136/2017/12/08/lew-alcindor-michigan-and-the…
December 9th, 2017 at 7:17 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 7:42 PM ^
Sam Gilbert made him an offer he couldn't refuse.
December 10th, 2017 at 1:31 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 7:28 PM ^
You mean Roger Murdock? Would have been great if the program had him as the pilot for the teams flight last year during the tournament.
December 9th, 2017 at 7:30 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 7:58 PM ^
Victor
December 9th, 2017 at 9:40 PM ^
December 10th, 2017 at 9:32 AM ^
"Do we have clearance Clarence?"
December 9th, 2017 at 7:30 PM ^
I thought he was the greatest. But my dad thought he didn't work hard enough on defense. And he said that lots of times, he didn't even run downcourt, and didn't really try, except during the playoffs.
December 9th, 2017 at 7:34 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 7:45 PM ^
To drag walton and lanier up and down the court for 48 minutes.
December 9th, 2017 at 9:07 PM ^
Joey, do you like gladiator movies?
December 9th, 2017 at 9:25 PM ^
....been in a Turkish prison?
December 9th, 2017 at 7:50 PM ^
He played into his 40s in the NBA. He was smart enough to know some games counted a lot more than others. Going all out every play probably would have burnt him out and shortened his career.
December 9th, 2017 at 7:39 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 7:42 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 7:45 PM ^
And then there's Magic Johnson, who grew up a Michigan fan but finally ended up choosing MSU.
When you think that we've been to the national title game six times (going 1-5) and nearly landed two all-time greats, we really weren't far from reaching blueblood status as a program.
December 9th, 2017 at 8:23 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 8:47 PM ^
He's talked about how he wanted to come in with the Fab Five.
December 9th, 2017 at 9:11 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 7:54 PM ^
he said not to do that...common, man.
December 9th, 2017 at 8:08 PM ^
Second. Bill Russell.
December 9th, 2017 at 9:19 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 7:52 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 8:23 PM ^
"Michigan: Getting outworked for recruits since 1965."
December 9th, 2017 at 9:21 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 8:30 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 9:44 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 9:45 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 9:53 PM ^
You're a MAN!!!
Don't read the story, it's only for those that do care...
December 9th, 2017 at 10:04 PM ^
December 9th, 2017 at 11:10 PM ^
December 10th, 2017 at 9:13 AM ^
Your 'what-if' is wrong. Crable did not hit Smith out of bounds - so the 'what-if' should be phrased thusly: "what if the refs got the call right?'
December 9th, 2017 at 11:43 PM ^
I remember reading in autobiography Giant Steps and him saying that he was very impressed by Ann Arbor on his recruiting trip. Alas, t'was not to be.
While I don't think most people would anoint Abdul-Jabbar as the Greatest Of All Time, at the very least he's in the conversation for GOAT and there's a non-insane case to be made on his behalf. Kareem in maize and blue might've changed things for M hoops, to put it mildly. Sadly can't fault him for choosing UCLA, especially given what our facilites probably looked like back then. (Yes, John Wooden deployed boosters and bagmen as much as anyone else, but he's still the GOAT college hoops coach)
December 10th, 2017 at 2:59 AM ^
His name is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and he changed his name for a reason that was important to him. Let's respect that by calling him by his name. Less people know of "Lew Alcindor" than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar anyways.
December 10th, 2017 at 9:29 AM ^
No disrespect is intended. It's just that the tendency in the media is to call him by the name he used at the time. He publicly changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 and references to his life after that point call him that.
This is the general practice for people who changed their names. Note Muhammad Ali's Wikipedia page, for example.
December 10th, 2017 at 2:48 PM ^
I always wondered how that worked...
jdon
December 10th, 2017 at 3:20 PM ^
December 10th, 2017 at 4:41 PM ^
We seem to be the historical and perpetual bridesmaid.