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Sports analyst, philanthropist, and Fab Five legend Jalen Rose is this week's guest on One Hundred: The Ed Gordon Podcast.
Rose chatted with fellow Detroit native and podcast host Ed Gordon about his major ways of giving back and breaking down where his hunger for the game originated.
"Sports for me was an outlet," Rose said. "And uniquely, my father was a former NBA player, Jimmy Walker, who was the No. 1 pick in the 1967 NBA draft, so I had basketball in my blood probably before that I knew did," he added.
Rose, along with Chris Webber, Ray Jackson, and Jimmy King –– the University of Michigan Fab Five as they are known –– brought a swag to college basketball, an influence still seen today. The star Wolverines are considered one of the greatest freshmen recruiting classes of all time after taking the team to the NCAA Men's Championships back-to-back in 1992 and 1993.
Rose went on to play 13 seasons in the NBA and has launched a successful career in sports broadcasting at ABC and ESPN.
And he hasn't forgotten about his midwest hometown. In 2011, Rose opened the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, an open enrollment charter high school that serves students in northwest Detroit.
In terms of how he's been able to maintain success throughout high school, college, and beyond, Rose says it's these JAY-Z lyrics that keep him motivated: "I'm what the game made me, not what the fame made me."
"That's something I got tatted on me a while ago because ... there's distractions always," Rose added.
Check out more on what else this legend had to say about his journey at the link above.
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