Saturday, March 04, 2000
Magloire's trip at Kentucky has led him to maturity
UK big man made most of colorful career
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The first fallacy about Jamaal Magloire's career-ending crescendo is the suggestion he has simply grown up. At 6-foot-10 and 260 pounds, “up” happened a long time ago. He has grown older. Better. Smarter.
He has endured. And now, excelled.
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MAGLOIRE FILE
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THE GOOD
• 1,011 career points
• UK's career blocks leader (264)
• Two-time SEC Player of the Week this year
• Ranks among SEC leaders in scoring (12th), rebounding (second), blocks (fourth) and free-throw shooting (10th)
• Decision to return for his senior season
THE BAD
• On-air rebukes by analysts Dick Vitale and Len Elmore
• A reported head-butt of Maryland's Tahj Holden
• A near-brawl last year when Magloire slammed Louisville's Nate Johnson at the buzzer
• Trampling the Miami RedHawks mascot last year
THE UGLY
• Eight career technical fouls, one ejection
• Three suspensions
• www.magloire.com (pulled for fear of NCAA violations)
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Yet as he bursts through Kentucky's Senior Day banner today, being feted in his final home appearance — the 22nd-ranked Wildcats face No. 8 Florida with the Southeastern Conference crown at stake — the big man remains a big mystery.
“People only get to know what they see, and often that's just what's on TV,” Magloire said. “I've just got to take care of my job, and their perception of me will take care of itself.”
Kentucky's most colorful character, who will end up having played the second-most games in the program's history, will leave a littered legacy.
He went from smart-mouthed signee to role player to problem child to heavy-handed enforcer to — finally — consistent senior. He left for the NBA but returned. He went from team player to top player, perhaps the SEC's best this year.
And somehow, for a Toronto kid born of Trinidad natives, much of it got lost in the translation.
“I call him a gentle giant, because he's the most giving person I know,” said Simeon Mars, the assistant to the coaching staff who also coached Magloire in high school. “People think the persona they see on the court is how Jamaal is, but they couldn't be more wrong.”
So who is he?
He's the player who grabs the stat sheet and looks first for his blocked shots. He's the son homesick for calypso music and his mother's West Indian cooking. He's the protege, quietly seeking the counsel of radio analyst Sam Bowie, a former UK All-American center. He's the big brother, helping freshman teammates through their slumps and playing cards with team managers on plane trips.
“On the court, he's an intimidator,” sophomore teammate Desmond Allison said. “Off the court, he's more of a teddy bear.”
Magloire leads his team in scoring (13.2 avg.), rebounding (8.8 avg.), blocks (53) and field-goal percentage (.494). Formerly a defensive specialist — he is UK's career blocks leader — Magloire has nearly doubled his previous highest scoring average.
Georgia's Jim Harrick called Magloire “the most dominant player we've faced.” Florida's Billy Donovan said, “From start to finish, he has been the best player in our league.”
For the poorest-shooting UK team in 37 years, there is little question from where 21 victories emanated.
“I don't know where we'd be without him,” coach Tubby Smith said.
“He has done a lot to help Kentucky basketball. But I'm more proud of his development as a person the last couple years. He has learned a lot about the game but also a lot about life.”
Magloire has always been an anomaly, a son of parents 6-2 and 5-6 who somehow grew into a giant. He dominated in high school and figured then-coach Rick Pitino would mold him quickly into a pro player. He told reporters he might stay only one season before jumping to the NBA.
Then Pitino left after Mag loire's freshman year. Fellow centers Nazr Mohammed and Michael Bradley developed faster as scoring threats, and Magloire was relegated mostly to a defensive role.
“He was reading and hearing the critics, who said offensively he wasn't a factor,” Bowie said. “They'd say, "You could leave him alone in the gym and he couldn't score in double-figures.'
“That hurt him. He used that as a motivating factor.”
Magloire had his troubles. He endured three suspensions, once for an incident when he was riding in a car in which two men were arrested for marijuana possession.
“That was probably the toughest time for him,” Mars said. “He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He felt he let the team down.”
His intimidating style has had its drawbacks: eight technical fouls, believed a record for a UK player. Tennessee's C.J. Black spoke what others thought: “I don't like the dude. He's a dirty player.”
ESPN analyst Len Elmore, who played an enforcer role for Maryland in the early 1970s, said he saw Magloire head-butt a player in a game early this season. Elmore had met Magloire and was surprised.
“Jamaal's not a thug,” Elmore said in December. “As a matter of fact, you're surprised, because he's an intelli gent kid. He's probably too smart to do some of the dumb things he has done.”
The bad publicity overshadowed any good deeds. Magloire spent much of the past two seasons in late-night shooting sessions alone in Memorial Coliseum. His hard work hardly hit the papers.
Magloire's mouth, though, did. His brashness has led to predictions such as UK winning the 1998 national title, which it did. His too-proper English makes for comical quotes.
He could trade elbows and shoves for 40 minutes, retreat to the locker room and unspool straight-face gems:
• “I had nothing against the gentleman from Vanderbilt.”
• “Just play the game. That's all I'm trying to do. I'm a model citizen.”
The soft-spoken Bowie seems a polar opposite to Magloire's fiery style, but the two hit it off and have been friends for three years. Magloire frequently asks advice of Bowie, occasionally even at halftime during games.
“The relationship we have is very special,” Bowie said. “It's almost like I'm a father looking at my son.”
Magloire's stilted speech now rules the locker room. His actions speak louder.
“I'm trying to be a leader,” he said. “That doesn't necessarily mean scoring a lot of points. That can mean diving on the floor, grabbing rebounds — doing the little things.”
Jamaal Magloire, long since grown up, has grown into a man.
Don't misunderstand.
“All I've ever wanted to do was win,” he said. “That's what I'm all about.”
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