Commentary | Manatee's Armer says Fab Five-era Michigan would beat Kentucky
Kentucky might go 40-0, but Chip Armer says there is at least one team that would have beaten the Wildcats.
The Manatee High boys basketball coach speaks from experience. He was a senior on Michigan's 1991-92 Fab Five team that reached the NCAA final.
Those Wolverines started five freshmen, and Armer rarely got off the bench. He had the best seat in the house throughout the ride.
He says the Fab Five would have easily taken down this year's Kentucky Wildcats, who are 38-0 heading into the Final Four this weekend in Indianapolis.
"The Fab Five would've beaten Kentucky, absolutely," Armer says. "The two teams were similar to a degree, but our guys were special. They were on the same wavelength and communicated well. Look at the NBA careers that Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose had."
Though the Fab Five might not have been the best team in college basketball history, its 1991 recruiting class might be the best ever. Webber, Howard, Rose and Jimmy King were McDonald's All-Americans, and Ray Jackson was a top 100 player.
The 6-foot-9 Armer played at Army and a year at Santa Fe Community College before arriving at Michigan as a junior. He played sparingly that year and the next season when the Fab Five arrived, he saw the handwriting on the wall after the first practice: He wasn't going to play much.
"It was unheard of then to start five freshmen, and some people thought Coach (Steve) Fisher was crazy to do it, but from the first day of practice you knew these guys were special," Armer says. "He did a fabulous job of coaching them, and they worked so hard. No one talks about Ray Jackson and Jimmy King. They were unselfish and sacrificed personal opportunities to be part of something special."
The Fab Five started together midway through the 1991-92 season and went 12-3, losing to Duke in the '92 title game. As sophomores, they went to the NCAA final again and lost to North Carolina.
Quite a few basketball junkies say the Fab Five shot better and was more dominant on the boards than this year's Kentucky team, but it's doubtful many would be brave enough to argue their case against superfan Ashley Judd.
The Fab Five's biggest argument is that it played before the one-and-done era. The Duke team that beat those Wolverines had Grant Hill, Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley, and the North Carolina squad had George Lynch, Eric Montross and NCAA Tournament MVP Donald Williams.
"We went though some adversity. We were trying to figure out our identity and our lineup, but we never pointed fingers at each other," Armer said. "We wanted to win, but didn't realize the history we were making. I was closest to Howard. He had a rough childhood, and Michigan was his family."
Kentucky has two players projected to go in the top 10 of this year's NBA Draft with freshmen Karl Anthony Towns at No. 1 and junior Willie Cauley-Stein at 10th.
Kentucky started five freshmen last year in losing to Connecticut in the final with the Wildcats' Julius Randle going seventh overall and James Young 17th.
Webber was selected number one overall in the '93 NBA Draft. In '94, Howard was the fifth overall pick and Rose the 13th. King was a second-round pick in 1995, and Jackson never played in the NBA.
Regardless of how things play out this weekend, Armer is certain of one thing: He will return to coach the Hurricanes.
"This was my first year as a varsity head coach, and I came into it two weeks after the season started," Armer says. "There were some adjustments in trying to build a foundation and we had our struggles, but our kids are going to be better because of it."
The Canes' basketball program has struggled in recent years, but Armer likes what he has coming back in juniors Justin Aracena, Tyler Randall and point guard Kavious Price.
Armer says basketball has changed a lot since he was a standout at Rockledge High back in the late 1980s and that Manatee County can be a force in basketball.
"Now big men have to do all the things guards have to do. They have to be quicker, be able to dribble and penetrate and dish," Armer says. "You have to be a complete player and shoot the three. To improve basketball around here, we need to capture the kids at a younger age. I have noticed they don't have the proper fundamentals, but the coaches in Manatee and Sarasota counties support each other in trying to build the sport back up."
Alan Dell, Herald prep sports writer, can be reached at 941-745-7056. Follow him on Twitter@ADellSports.
This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Commentary | Manatee's Armer says Fab Five-era Michigan would beat Kentucky."