Thad Matta Testified Under Oath That The Fab Five Were Not The Best Recruiting Class Of All Time

Today, Grant Hill responded to Jalen Rose's "Uncle Tom" comment in the The piece, which is thoughtful and compelling and worth a read, ended with the kicker, "I am proud I never lost a game against the Fab Five." Fire.

Add another shot to Rose, Webber, Jackson, Howard, and King this afternoon: a reader sent in this old clip from an August 2005 deposition with Thad Matta, who had just finished his first year as Ohio State's men's basketball coach. As far as we can tell, he was testifying in preparation for Jim O'Brien's wrongful termination suit against the university.

In the deposition, Matta is told that his recruiting class (perhaps for the 2006 group, which some called the "Thad Five") has been compared to the Michigan Fab Five. "It's your understanding... that in college basketball circles, the Michigan Fab Five is held up as... one of the best recruiting classes in the history of college basketball," the lawyer says. "Correct?" Matta shakes his head, and off-screen his lawyer says "object." The lawyer doing the questioning sounds genuinely taken aback. But Matta stands by his claim, even when the question is limited to the popular media's consideration: "No." That right there is a man with principles.