The University of Michigan basketball program has likely been on the minds of sports fans in the Volunteer State since the weekend.
Not only did Tennessee learn that it would be playing Michigan in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, but the Wolverines' famous Fab Five players from the early 1990s were featured in a two-hour documentary that premiered Sunday night on ESPN.
Both events are likely to bring back some additional memories for UTC fans, as the Mocs played Michigan twice when the Wolverines still had members of the Fab Five playing.
And the December 1994 game at UTC's McKenzie Arena is considered one of the most historic sporting events in the city's history.
A look back at the events on old newspapers on microfilm reveals plenty of excitement. And a good reason exists as Michigan was considered one of the premier programs in the country at the time.
Michigan coach Steve Fisher had shocked the basketball world in 1989 by leading the Wolverines to the national title as a last-minute replacement for the departed coach Bill Frieder before the tournament started.
He was not able to replicate that magic for the next two years, but, as the documentary pointed out, he did sign star high school players Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson before the 1991-92 seasons.
Besides creating a new level of talent never before seen by five freshmen on one team, the players from modest backgrounds brought a new culture to college basketball as well with their baggy shorts and interest in hip-hop and rap music, the documentary said.
The five were able to lead the Wolverines to the national championship game their first two years, although they lost them both, including when Webber called a timeout late in the 1993 game against North Carolina and his team received a technical foul because it had used all its timeouts.
Webber departed after his sophomore year, but the other four were still on the team the following year, when UTC traveled to Ann Arbor to face the fifth-rated Wolverines on Dec. 4, 1993.
This was at a time when UTC under coach Mack McCarthy had reasserted itself as the dominant team in the Southern Conference after a brief reign by East Tennessee State. As a result, Coach Fisher was well aware of the Mocs' success.
"UTC is a team that beat Alabama by 10 points at Alabama," he told Jack Hodges of the Chattanooga Times before the game. "Last year they went to the NCAA Tournament."
The Mocs played tough against Michigan but eventually succumbed by a score of 97-86.
"The basketball game was there to be won, and we didn't take advantage of it," Coach McCarthy said afterward.
Brandon Born led UTC with 20 points, while Chad Copeland had 18, Mario Hanson had 17, Gary Robb chipped in 15, and Roger Smith had eight points and 10 rebounds.
Among Michigan's remaining Fab Five players, Howard had 22 points against the Mocs, Rose had 18, Jackson finished with 15 and King had five. Freshman Bobby Crawford tied Howard with 22.
The next year, after the Mocs again won the Southern Conference but were trounced by Kansas and coach Roy Williams, 102-73, in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Michigan came to Chattanooga to play.
Howard and Rose had both turned pro, so only seniors King and Jackson remained from the Fab Five. But the excitement about the Michigan program was still in place, and the No. 17 Wolverines' game against UTC on the afternoon of Saturday, Dec. 3, 1994, drew much attention.
The game was televised on ESPN, and announcers Brad Nessler and the legendary Dick Vitale worked the game.
Chris Dortch interviewed the famed analyst while he was eating pasta at an unspecified Chattanooga hotel, and Mr. Vitale told him he tried to do plenty of homework to find the interesting stories about the teams he was covering.
"I study and prepare like you wouldn't believe," he said. "I come here, and I want to know about Brandon Born shooting the basketball and why he wasn't heavily recruited. I want to know about (fellow UTC player) Marcus Watkins and the Persian Gulf War."
After the interview, Mr. Vitale then went to the Roundhouse and began shooting some basketball shots while waiting for the Michigan team to arrive for a Friday night practice, and Times photographer David Greedy took his picture.
"Not bad for a 55-year-old guy with one bad eye," Mr. Vitale joked after making a basket as a crowd of local onlookers serenaded him with some of his familiar phrases.
A number of media requests were required for the game, which was basically a sellout and which Coach McCarthy called one of the big sporting events in the city's history.
Several Michigan newspaper reporters also covered the game. Although he was not listed in any Chattanooga articles, one could have been Michigan beat writer Mitch Albom from Detroit. He covered the Wolverines during this time and wrote a book about the Fab Five, but he later became nationally known for another book, "Tuesdays with Morrie."
Although the Mocs were in position to win the game late, Michigan prevailed 83-71, due to turnovers.
Jackson and King held up the Fab Five mystique in grand fashion, scoring 26 and 23 points, respectively, although King did receive a technical foul for taunting. A key defensive player in the game for Michigan was guard Dugan Fife, the brother of Dane Fife, a star member of the 2002 Indiana national runner-up team.
For UTC, Hanson had 26 points against Michigan, Born had 18 and Smith finished with 10.
As part of the deal to get Michigan to come to Chattanooga, UTC had to travel to Michigan two more times, in December 1997 and December 1999, both losses by the Mocs.
But by then, all the Fab Five were gone, and both UTC and Michigan were starting on a decline. Coach McCarthy left UTC after the improbable Sweet 16 run in March 1997 and later coached Virginia Commonwealth and East Carolina.
Coach Fisher was forced out at Michigan before the 1997-98 season over reports that a booster had paid some former players. He has resurfaced as the coach of San Diego State, leading the Aztecs to an impressive No. 2 seed this year entering the NCAA Tournament.
Of the the Fab Five, three - Webber, Rose and Howard - went on to long and successful NBA careers, with Howard still playing for the Miami Heat at the age of 38.
The times that the Fab Five played against UTC are likely only small parts of their collective basketball memories.
But for the UTC players, coaches and fans, the two games were no doubt memories to cherish a lifetime.
Jcshearer2@comcast.net