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DETROIT (AP) — Jalen Rose walked through the doors of the high school that bears his name and into the cafeteria, which doubles as a shorter-than-regulation basketball court. He hugged a stream of students as they headed to class and chatted up faculty and staff in the hallways.
The former NBA guard and member of Michigan’s Fab Five opened the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy in 2011, four years after retiring from the league. As busy as he is, the 6-foot-8 Rose is a regular in the building and outside when people in the community pull up for free food.
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“Jalen is here all the time,” said Jazmine Allen, principal and superintendent of the open enrollment, tuition free public school in Detroit. “I think people think that the school is named after Jalen and he is just a celebrity. He actually is a normal fixture here. He is not just the board president and founder of the school. He works here and doesn’t receive a paycheck.”
Rose was also not paid for a recent speaking opportunity, recently delivering the commencement address at the University of Michigan.
And to him, it was priceless.
“This is actually my, `Mama, I made it’ moment,'” he said during his 22-minute speech to the graduates on the covered turf and tens of thousands of people in the stands at Michigan Stadium on May 2.
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The 53-year-old Rose was raised by his mother, Jeanne Rose, who died in 2021, and grew up poor in Detroit, where he said she kept a box of unpaid bills tucked away in a closet. He didn’t see his father, Jimmy Walker, who was drafted by Detroit No. 1 overall in the 1967 NBA draft, until he attended his funeral in 2007. Walker wore No. 24 during his nine-year career in the league with Detroit, Houston and Kansas City.
Intentionally, Rose wore No. 42 because he wanted to be the opposite of Walker. He helped Detroit Southwestern High School win state championships as a junior and senior in 1990 and 1991, playing on a team with fellow future NBA players Voshon Lenard and Howard Eisley.
Rose was the fifth member of the Fab Five to commit to Michigan, so he wore No. 5 with the Wolverines. He was the point guard and…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ex-nba-player-fab-five-154831765.html
Author : LARRY LAGE
Publish date : 2026-05-11 15:48:00
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