Michigan will officially honor whole Fab Five in the future, says John Beilein

3:57 PM ET

San Antonio -- John Beilein said he believes Michigan will officially honor the complete Fab Five in the future.

Ray King, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Chris Webber and Jimmy Jackson -- five key members of the Michigan squads in the early 1990s -- captivated the nation with an exciting style.

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  The drama is out of the NCAA tournament, and that's OK. That's because on Monday night, two teams that should be playing for the national title are playing for the national title.

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  Michigan has made life miserable for opponents all season. In the age of the 3, it's been suffocating defense that has the Wolverines one win away from a title. Now, though, comes the biggest test of all: Villanova.

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  The top-seeded Wildcats, who have been favored in every game this season, opened as a 6.5-point favorite over Michigan in Monday's NCAA tournament final.

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In 2002, however, the university vacated that team's two trips to the Final Four and 113 wins over an eight-year span following an investigation that unveiled payments to former players, including a six-figure sum to Chris Webber, from booster Ed Martin.

"We love the Fab Five, and we continue to reach out to the Fab Five and that team," Beilein said Sunday at a press conference prior to Monday's national title matchup against Villanova. "It wasn't just five guys on that team, now. That was a team of champions as well. .... When you have the NCAA violations in there, that's a time that it takes some time to heal. But I'm looking forward to the times when we get everybody in that group together and all of that isn't under our control, if you understand that."

Rose has led the public charge for Michigan to re-raise the Final Four banners and welcome the group back to campus with a proper ceremony.

It's a complicated situation.

Webber and three other players tied to the scandal were disassociated from the program for 10 years, a penalty imposed by the NCAA that expired in 2012.

Webber turned pro in 1993, the first member of the Fab Five to leave school for the NBA. Per Rose, he remains disconnected from the other Fab Five players. Webber was the only member of the group that did not participate in their 30 for 30 film, "The Fab Five."

Beilein seemed to reference the rift with Webber on Sunday.

"And if invitations are sent and they're not accepted, then that's okay," he said. "We just keep doing it. But one day, The Supremes, 'One day, we'll be together.' We'll get it all together at one time."

Beilein returns to the national championship game five years after losing to Louisville in the final game of the season in 2013. Earlier this year, the NCAA vacated Louisville's national championship run after a sex-for-pay scandal.

Beilein said he does not, however, want the 2013 national title by default.

"No, we didn't win that one," he said. "It was fair and square. They didn't have six guys on the court. ... We lost the game. They won it. I'm going to leave it like that and that's the way it should be."

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