Rose Is Leaving for NBA Draft

The Fab Five was reduced to two Tuesday as Jalen Rose, following in the footsteps of Chris Webber and Juwan Howard, announced that he, too, will leave Michigan early to try the NBA draft.

That leaves Jimmy King and Ray Jackson from the talented freshman class recruited three years ago. Webber is finishing his rookie season with the Golden State Warriors, and Howard announced Monday he was turning pro.

“I thought about my teammates and the passionate love we have for each other,” Rose said. “This has been my dream, and now I’m getting a chance to go for it. I think this is the best thing for me at this time.”

The Fab Five went to the NCAA final game in 1992 before losing to Duke. In 1993, the team played again for the national championship, but lost to North Carolina. This season, without Webber, the Wolverines lost to Arkansas in the Midwest Regional final.

“For us, it’s like a legacy that will never be forgotten,” Rose said. “The year before I got here, Michigan was playing in the NIT. The next year, we were playing for the NCAA championship.”

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Football

The San Francisco 49ers traded Ted Washington, a starting nose guard and former first-round draft choice, to the Denver Broncos for a fifth-round pick in Sunday’s draft. The 49ers have also reached an agreement with Dallas free agent linebacker Ken Norton on a five-year, $8-million contract according to the San Francisco Chronicle. . . . Pittsburgh, unable to sign Alvin Harper of Dallas to a free-agent contract, is trying to trade its first-round pick in the draft for the Cowboy wide receiver.

Tennis

Second-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain defeated Wiltrud Probst of Germany, 7-5, 6-3, in the first round of the La Familia Open in Barcelona. Other seeded winners included, No. 4 Sabine Hack of Germany, No. 5 Nathalie Tauziat of France, and No. 6 Iva Majoli of Croatia.

Miscellany

Yamaha opened a lead of 210 nautical miles over its nearest Whitbread 60 rival on the fifth leg of the Whitbread Round the World Race. Yamaha, a Japanese-New Zealand yacht skippered by Ross Field, had stretched its lead over European entry Intrum Justitia by 21 miles and was 1,266 miles from the leg’s finish in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

David Pichler of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., seeking the first platform title of his 10-year career, had 541.59 points to lead qualifying for Saturday’s finals. Russ Bertram of Fort Lauderdale, last year’s indoor platform champion, was second.