Who would have ever known that the University of Michigan’s Jalen Rose would be making more news now that he’s not lacing up his shoes for game action? One of the most clutch players to ever represent the Wolverines, Rose has lately had to battle more than his opponents. His latest appearance coming in front of a District Court judge, where he’s facing DUI-related charges.
When the Fab Five documentary first aired a few months back, the uproar surrounding the film was not around the actions of the players or the scandal that continues to surround the talented squad. Instead, Rose and company highlighted what they thought of Grant Hill and his Duke Blue Devils, using very racially charged commentary. Immediately on his pulpit at ESPN, Rose had to defend his statements and essentially save his career for voicing the thoughts that he had as a teenager growing up in the inner city. If his comments had not been directed to one of basketball’s finest gentleman, maybe this story would have been different.
The timing could not have been any worse for Rose, and who knows if the stress of the Hill feud had led him to martini numbers five and six. Just days after the release of The Fab Five: A Documentary, an inebriated Rose got into a car accident with a female companion in the vehicle with him in West Bloomfield. It was ill timing and could potentially land the former NBA player in jail for up to 90 days. Unlike the Hill tizzy that had a defined end date, the court proceedings could linger for weeks.
The shame to this entire situation, is how much of an ambassador of both UofM and basketball that Jalen Rose has become. He was a fantastic analyst on ESPN and he is not long removed from having some big seasons with Indiana and Chicago. Rose has lately used his status to become a leader in the challenging community where he first honed his basketball skills. It can only be everyone’s hope that he has learned that his actions, both negative and positive, have a tremendous impact on those that look up to all that he has represented.