Q & A WITH AL McGUIRE : If Healthy, Duke or Indiana To Win It All

Talking with renowned former basketball coach Al McGuire:

Question: First things first. Why, when it’s 17 degrees outside and we have all of New York to choose from, did you want to meet at Rumpelmayer’s, an ice-cream parlor?

Answer: Because mainly, I didn’t want to meet in a cloth-napkin place. I feel like if I go to a meat market, which is what I call these sports bars today, it should be paid for. I enjoy mom-and-dad places like this. That’s why I live in Milwaukee. I live in Milwaukee by choice because I like ethnic areas. I’m comfortable there. I’m comfortable here. With me, if I comb my hair or if I’m with more than four people, I expect a check. I expect some type of honorarium.

Q: What are your picks for the Final Four?

A: If either (Duke’s) Grant Hill or (Indiana’s) Alan Henderson gets back to 100%, then I immediately go with that team to win it all. What’s happened is that those injuries couldn’t have happened at a better time, if the person is only out for about a month. Then you can develop other players and give them confidence. They’re not little brothers anymore; they’re big brothers. If neither one of those two comes back, then neither of their teams will make it to the Elite Eight. They could get to the Sweet 16, but they will not get to the Elite Eight. That’s enough about Indiana and Duke.

Q: How much do you like Michigan’s chances?

A: I would move Michigan in there, but I didn’t have them in there before the injuries to those other teams. I think Michigan is going to go through the terrible 2s. The best thing for Michigan is not to get a lead. When they get a lead, they turn into hotdogs. They turn into blacktop, playground players. They start pointing and woofing. But if they stay together, they win it all next year.

Q: So you have Michigan in the Final Four and Indiana and Duke out. Who else do you see in New Orleans?

A: Kentucky, Kansas and Arizona. And of those four, everything else being equal, my winner would be Kentucky only because I think Rick Pitino is due. It’s like (Duke Coach) Mike Krzyzewski. He was trying so hard, he was due. All of a sudden, he got there, but he was due for a couple of years. (Arizona Coach) Lute Olson is in the same position. He’s due. I was due when we won in 1977 (with Marquette). I had seven or eight better teams than the one that year, but I was due.

Q: How close is Marquette to returning to the level it was at when you retired?

A: They’re a team that will only come every third or fourth year. They do not get players that will sit on the bench. When Kevin (O’Neill) recruits a top-shelf ballplayer, he has to play him right away. They could be highly representative next year, and then they’ll go into a two-year drought. And then two years later, they’ll have a good team again.

Q: Is the Marquette program still fighting the “legend of Al McGuire” the way UCLA does with John Wooden’s legacy?

A: The stigma of Al McGuire is gone. You’re always going to have the geezers, the Q-Tips, the guys who want to live in yesteryear. But I’m not too sure that people who want to live in yesteryear really want their dream. You know, we all want to see John Kennedy at the age he was assassinated. Today, the man would be in his 80s. (Actually, 75) They say the greatest thing in life is to die young. I don’t want to do that. I like this side of the grass.

Q: What have you learned about the broadcasting business in your 17 years of calling college basketball games?

A: Have no fear. If you have fear, you’re going to just have a three-year run. If you do what the network wants you to do, you’ll have a limited run.