Saturday, January 27, 2001
McGuire was mentor to area coaches
By Michael Perry and Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Over the years, Al McGuire told Bob Huggins a number of things. The University of Cincinnati coach remembers this one in particular:
“You know when you've got a really good team, because you walk into other people's arenas without any fear.”
McGuire, a Hall of Fame coach, died Friday at age 72, reportedly from a blood disorder.
“It's a terrible loss for basketball,” Huggins said. “Al did a lot of things for basketball, did a lot of things for coaches.
“He kind of took me under his wing a little bit. He'd call me from everywhere. Of course, as Al would say, he calls anybody that has an 800 number.”
McGuire would call Huggins from airports all over the country.
“He'd call me and talk to me about officials, about stuff that you don't really talk to other people about, (like) going to other people's arenas,” Huggins said. “Al kind of thinks about things other people don't think about. A lot of it helped me.
“Every time I'd go to Mil waukee, we'd spend time (together). We'd spend time at all the Nike things. I did commercials with him.”
Huggins does not recall how he first met McGuire but said he thinks McGuire knew Charlie Huggins, Bob's father and a legendary Ohio high school coach. Huggins said he last talked to McGuire several months ago.
“Just the first time I was with him it was like he had known me forever,” he said.
Xavier coach Skip Prosser, who met McGuire on only a couple occasions, remembered studying his coaching methods in the 1970s.
“He was one of those icons: You watched his teams, you bought his instructional tapes, you followed his lead,” Prosser said. “He was unique. We were talking about his "McGuireisms' the other day, how all the bromides he had ring true even today.”
As much as his 1977 national championship at Marquette, McGuire's legacy will be that of one of the college game's most endearing personalities. He was lighthearted and witty, the Bill Veeck of basketball.
“He had a great outlook on life, that the game isn't life and death,” Prosser said.
Miami University coach Charlie Coles first met McGuire when McGuire came to Oxford for a clinic in 1972.
“Al McGuire was one of my idols,” Coles said. “I was a very young coach when I first met him. I said: "Here's a guy who's different. Here's a guy who's needed.' He was so confident working with players. But he was so modest. He never took the credit. He was one of the finest bench coaches ever.”
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McGuire was mentor to area coaches
