College aspirants tend to have a dream school. Dwyane Wade’s dream was suiting up for the Wolverines. The biggest draw was the school’s coolest elites. While on the Run it Back podcast, he confessed that before he ended up at Marquette, he wanted to go to the University of Michigan.

The host, Mateen Cleaves, an NCAA champion for the Michigan State Spartans, lightheartedly claimed to hate the answer. But he immediately figured D-Wade’s attraction had to be because of the legendary ‘Fab 5.’ His response was, “1000%.” 

“I didn’t know nothing about schools. You just go with what you know, where the eyes go, where your heart goes. Fab 5 was the story of all those guys and just the coolness of ’em. And they just made Michigan look like the place you want to be.”

“Fate had other plans in store for @DwyaneWade,” the Instagram caption read. As Michigan was realistically not one of the colleges that approached a teenage Dwyane, it didn’t stop him from dreaming. “It was on my mind, ‘alright, I’m going to Michigan.’ You don’t know as a kid. You say it, you gonna do it. ‘I’m gonna Michigan.’ Then reality starts setting in and Michigan want nothing to do with me.” 

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The Fab 5 is the Wolverines 1991 recruiting class consisting of Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, Ray Jackson, and Wade’s fellow Chicago native, Juwan Howard. They were the first team in NCAA history to compete for the championship with all-freshman starters. Howard is currently the head coach of the Wolverines and Wade had the opportunity to admit to him the same.

Due to academic issues, Wade had only three college offers on the table – Illinois State, DePaul, and Marquette. He chose the Wisconsin school for coach Tom Crean. He, however, had to sit out his freshman year to fulfill academic eligibility requirements. He became eligible in his sophomore year and would average 22 Ppg across two NCAA seasons. He’d go on to be a first-round NBA draft pick in 2003.

There was one moment though when Mateen Cleaves’ school became a sore subject for Wade recently.

Michigan State almost made Dwyane Wade cry

Someone who went to the Wolverines’ rivals, Michigan State is Draymond Green. March Madness in 2023 got intense when Green’s school was up against Wade’s alma mater in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Spartans triumphed over the Marquette Golden Eagles in an upset 69-60 win.

In true Draymond fashion, he was on social media taunting D-Wade. “D-Wade gotta tell him, man, don’t cry,” he wrote referencing another Marquette alum, Juan Toscano-Anderson. Classy, Green.

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Regardless, Wade stays a proud Marquette alum. He repped it at Beyonce’s concert too. But what do you think the world would be like if D-Wade was a Wolverine?

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