Michigan’s playing UNC for the first time since Chris Webber’s infamous timeout
People don’t forget.
Michigan and North Carolina face off on Wednesday night in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. This is the first meeting between the two programs since April 5, 1993. It’s a day Chris Webber would still like to forget.
Webber should have been called for traveling. That’s the first thing that pops out when you rewatch one of the most notorious plays in college basketball history. With Michigan down two after a missed free throw, Webber clearly travels after grabbing a rebound. When the referees didn’t call it, he frantically pushed the ball up the court.
Webber was panicked. Michigan had lost in the national title game the year before and now found itself down two with the final possession. You know what happens next: Webber calls a timeout he doesn’t have, Michigan receives a technical foul, and the game is essentially sealed for UNC.
This has stuck with Webber ever since. “Since he doesn’t own it, he’ll never get over it,” teammate Jalen Rose told ESPN.
At this point, Webber has basically no affiliation with the university. You can largely cite the Ed Martin scandal for that. The banners for the back-to-back Final Fours the Fab Five went to have been taken down. Webber’s name is deleted from the Michigan record books. The NCAA has basically tried to Men In Black Webber out of memory.
Unfortunately for Webber, people don’t forget.
