Michigan Basketball: College star Antoine Walker nearly picked Wolverines

In the 1990s, Michigan Basketball was famous for the “Fab 5”. But did you know that they almost landed another star in Antoine Walker?

In the Steve Fisher era (1989-97), Michigan Basketball was one of the best programs in all of college basketball. There were a number of trips to the NCAA Tournament, including back-to-back trips to the national championship game in 1992-93. That was when the “Fab 5” (Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, and Jimmy King) was around, elevating the program to a new level.

One of the positive consequences was interest from five-star high school talent, including Antoine Walker. The former was a high school All-American, who ultimately ended up with the Kentucky Wildcats. In an interview for “Knuckleheads”, hosted by former NBA pros Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles as part of “The Players Tribune” podcast network, Walker discussed his college career, including other options he was considering besides Kentucky.

"“Michigan was the one because of what they had already started, man. And Juwan stayed until his junior year, too, you’ve got to remember that. Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, those guys were still there.” – Antoine Walker from the Players Tribune Podcast"

He ultimately chose the Wildcats, thanks to a clear path for plenty of playing time as a freshman. Walker had a solid freshman campaign, going for 7.8 ppg and 4.5 rpg in nearly 15 mpg. But he exploded as a sophomore in 1994-95, going for 15.2 ppg and 8.4 rpg and was awarded All-SEC honors. With Hall-of-Famer Rick Pitino and star guard Tony Delk among his teammates, Walker won a national title for Kentucky in 1995. He scored 11 points in the 76-67 title win over Syracuse.

Walker went on to enter the NBA Draft, selected No. 6 overall, and had a good 13-year pro career. So it clearly ended up being a great decision for the former Wildcat to go to Kentucky instead of Michigan. But for Wolverine fans hearing this podcast, it had to have hurt knowing that they were close to landing an All-American in Walker in the 1994 recruiting class.

He would’ve been absolutely needed to replace the production left behind from both Webber and Rose, who combined to averaged around 41 ppg, 15 rpg, and 7.0 rpg in the year prior. The versatile forward would’ve been able to come right in and potentially start for the Wolverines. But instead, they took an expected step back, going 17-14 overall and losing in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament. What happened next regarding the sanctions and firing of Coach Fisher was well known but had the timeline of events gone the same, Walker would’ve still been able to come and go with the program without negative consequences.

Under current head coach Juwan Howard now, Michigan Basketball is getting a nice boost on the recruiting trail and is looking to get – and keep, an All-American out of high school. But it’s certainly interesting to know that they were a lot closer to landing one over 20 years than many people even know.

Despite the negative issues afterward, the impact from the “Fab 5” era has been a massive help for the program overall and has helped land extremely talented players. And Antoine Walker was nearly one of them.