BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY staff Former Villanova point guard Gary McClain is visiting local youth centers talking about his life struggles with drug and alcohol abuse. Gary McClain never tires of talking about his 1985 Villanova Wildcats.
They are the team that played the “perfect game” in pulling off one of the greatest upsets in the history of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament the night they upset defending champion Georgetown in the championship game.
For McClain, this recognition is more than nostalgia and a trip down memory lane. As a motivational speaker, his NCAA fame provides him with a forum to relate his life experiences to others, not as a basketball player, but as someone who has overcome drug and alcohol abuse to regain his life.
“It’s [NCAA tournament] a conversation point,” McLain said, “People get to meet me and hear my message.”
His message to everyone, middle school children up to board room directors, is that no one is exempt from life’s ups and downs. McLain was the all-tournament point guard for that 1985 Villanova team, drafted in the seventh round of the NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets. The world was at his feet. Yet, two years later he was writing an article in Sports Illustrated detailing drug use during his college days (he never did play in the NBA). For McLain, the message isn’t about retelling his story of hitting rock bottom and climbing out it.
“It’s not about what I’ve been through,” he said.
His message is that everyone will hit a snag during their lifetime. It’s inescapable. It’s what they do about it that is the difference.
“It’s all about attitude and how you react to situations,” he said. “You have to meet life on life’s terms and have a loyal circle of friends. You have to persevere and have faith. No one is exempt.”
As important as individual responsibility is to McLain, he knows that everyone needs some help along the way. That is what brought him to Manalapan on Oct. 17 to participate in the YMCA of Western Monmouth County’s third annual Golf Tournament at the Battleground Country Club. The outing is the fundraiser for the Y Cares Financial Assistance Program at the Freehold Borough YMCA Community Center. The program helps subsidize children who can’t afford to participate in Y programs.
After 18 holes of golf, McClain was the guest speaker at the awards dinner.
While McLain does his best to reach youngsters during his motivational speeches, he knows from experience the importance of institutions like the YMCA. It was a guiding force for him growing up in Tarrytown, N.Y., the son of a single mother, Geneva Garrett, who passed away on Aug. 10 of this year. He intends to start a GenGary Foundation in honor of his mother. The foundation will create an AAU basketball program that emphasizes academics.
It’s the reason he flew up from his West Palm Beach, Fla., home to help out at the YMCA’s fundraiser.
“The most important thing to remember is that it’s not just the game, it’s organizations like the YMCA that keep kids on the way to having a chance,” he said.
“People behind the scenes like Anne Stattle [director of financial development at the YMCA] and Mel O’Neal [director of the YMCA’s Community Center] help kids pursue a dream. I had my Anne Stattle and Mel O’Neal.
“There’s an old African saying that it takes an entire community to raise our children,” he added. “The YMCA is doing just that.”
There is always, of course, the game. The night in Lexington, Ky., when as a huge underdog to the Patrick Ewing-led Hoyas, the Wildcats shot 22-for-28 from the field, including a remarkable 9-for-10 in the second half, in upending Georgetown, 57-54.
McLain admits that he and his teammates had no idea how big their championship was going to be.
“Coach [Rollie] Massimino made us aware of the impact the game would have on us,” said McClain. “I don’t think anybody realized the impact it had on the outside world.”
People, the point guard noted, can relate to the Wildcats because everyone loves the feel-good story of the underdog beating the odds. Only, in the case of Villanova, it wasn’t a story.
“It’s about triumph,” McLain said of Villanova’s championship. “It’s about hard work, about everyone working toward one ultimate goal.”
The Wildcats were an afterthought when the tournament began after going 19-10 during the regular season and losing to Georgetown twice.
“When we beat Dayton on their home court — where they didn’t lose very often — the way we did, we thought we had something special going on,” he said.
From there on, he added, the Wildcats were familiar with everyone else in their bracket and confident they could match up with them. They marched on to the Final Four and the eventual showdown with the Hoyas. It was the game of a lifetime.
“I feel blessed to have been a part of it,” McLain said.
For McLain, the game is now more about what he can bring to youngsters than the game itself.
“My mother taught me that no matter what you’ve been through, what matters is a ‘Never say die’ attitude,” he said.
McLain will return to the area Nov. 11 to be a guest speaker at the 2005 YMCA Fall Basketball Clinic at Freehold Borough High School. The clinic is for boys and girls in grades two through eight and will run both days from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Cost for the two days is $75.
For more information on the clinic, call O’Neal at (732) 845-5273 or Stattle at (732) 462-0464, ext. 132.