UCI Still Looks Up to Magee

Kevin Magee attended a UC Irvine basketball game Saturday night, and he cried.

Join the crowd, right, Kevin?

Actually, and quite literally, Magee exists above the crowd. That is his name, his number, his banner now hanging high in the north rafters of the Bren Center, a reminder of all that is possible in the life of an Anteater--something for the current Irvine players to shoot for, though (and it probably needs to be said here) not shoot at.

Unofficially, Magee’s big, bold 44 was retired in March of 1982, the minute his college eligibility expired. No Anteater since has been allowed to wear the number, and rightly so.

So it took the school 13 years to authenticate it with a proper halftime ceremony.

“A little late,” Magee said as he wiped the tears from his cheeks, “but better late than never.”

As the blue and gold banner was slowly and dramatically unveiled--to the swelling strains of the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey”--the journey became too sentimental for Magee, who turned to hug his mother and started to sob.

“I don’t usually get emotional,” Magee said afterward, “but this is one of the best moments of my life. To be the first one up there in the rafters, to have my mom and dad and all my family members here . . . I just kind of broke down.”

Seconds earlier, his old coach, Bill Mulligan, had stepped to the microphone, scanned the pastel interior of a thoroughly modern basketball arena made possible by Magee’s exploits and the interest he created in the early 1980s, and suggested:

“The only thing they ought to change is the name. This ought to be the Magee Center instead of the Bren Center.”

This brought a yelp from the too-small crowd of 3,058 and nodding approval from Magee.

“A good suggestion,” Magee agreed. “Donald Bren paid the money. The one who gives the money gets the name.

“I know the reason it’s here is because of me. It’s not a bad thing.”

Before Magee, Irvine played its basketball inside an overgrown phone booth, 1,400-seat Crawford Hall, and had trouble filling it with seasons that typically ended 8-17 or 9-18. Magee remembered the program he joined with Mulligan in the fall of 1980 and wrinkled his nose.

“Terrible, terrible,” he said. “Nobody came to the games. There was no fan support.”

Magee suited up, shot 66% from the field for two seasons, made consensus first-team All-American twice and led Irvine to a two-year record of 40-17. Suddenly, Crawford Hall was too small to accommodate the support and blueprints for a new 5,000-seat facility were quickly drawn.

“He built the Bren Center,” Mulligan said. “He was the best player I ever had. The kid I have now at Irvine Valley (Keon Clark) may be more talented, but there was no one with Kevin’s heart.

“Kevin was also more selfish. Clark had nine assists the other night. Kevin might have nine assists the entire year.”

Not that this was a bad thing, Mulligan pointed out.

“We encouraged him to be selfish,” Mulligan said. “Oh yeah. There was no shot clock in those days, so we had a deal: ‘Nobody shoots until Kevin shot the ball.’ He took the first shot. Otherwise, you could be down, 10-2, and the other team’s pulling the ball out and slowing it down.”

Big West Commissioner Dennis Farrell said “the last 15 years have been the glory days for the Big West. We had an NCAA champion, an NIT champion . . . All-Americans, Olympians, players who went on to star in the NBA. But Kevin was the first really great player we had. He was our first star. He set the standard and all the others followed in his footsteps.”

Farrell still considers it “a mystery that the NBA never gave him the break he needed. He was very comparable to Larry Johnson, that kind of dominating player.

“Kevin, perhaps, played out of position in college. He was the go-to guy, down in the low-post. Maybe the NBA was unsure of how he’d play facing the basket. But he could have adapted, there’s no question in my mind.”

Instead, Magee played 12 years in Europe, made a fortune, now owns three cars and a palatial estate in Rancho Santa Margarita and can say he spent his playing days seeing the sights in France, Spain, Italy and Israel instead of Phoenix and Cleveland. He has no complaints.

And how would his bulky 6-8 frame and short turnaround jumper fare in today’s college game?

“Fine,” Mulligan pronounced. “Though not if he was 36, like he is now.”

Across the room, Magee couldn’t be so sure.

“Even at 36, I can play with those guys now,” Magee said.

He gestured toward the court, where tipoff was to commence in 15 minutes.

“They could use me. Oh yeah, oh yeah. They can use all the help they can get.”

Among Irvine fans, Magee continues to provide it. Asidria Drahti, Irvine’s student body president, spoke at a pregame ceremony honoring Magee and noted how his brother, a Cal student, would often razz him about the two schools’ respective basketball programs.

“I’d see him at Christmas,” Drahti said, “and he’d keep telling him, ‘Jason Kidd, Jason Kidd.’ So finally I mentioned the name ‘Kevin Magee.’ ”

Drahti smiled and pressed a finger against his lips.

“That quieted him down.”

A Noteworthy Career

Kevin Magee, left, remains a dominant force in UC Irvine basketball history. Here’s a look at the school records still held by Magee, whose jersey was retired by Irvine Saturday.

* Most points in a game: 46 against Loyola Marymount, 1981

* Scoring average: 27.5 points per game in 1980-81 season

* Career average: 26.3 points

* Field goals made: 20 against Loyola Marymount, 1981

* Field goals made in season: 280 (on 417 attempts), 1980-81

* Rebounds: 25 against Long Beach State, 1982

* Rebounds in season: 353 (in 29 games), 1981-82

Source: UC Irvine media guide