Marquette's new color analyst for men's basketball games on WISN-AM (1130) will be a familiar face to the campus community. Former Marquette center Jim McIlvaine will replace George Thompson, who had been the color man for 27 seasons and will work along side Steve "The Homer" True in the booth.
The 7-foot-1-inch center from 1990 to 1994, McIlvaine was named the Great Midwest Conference Player of the Year his senior season.
McIlvaine played seven seasons in the NBA. From 1994 to 2001, he played for the Washington Bullets, the Seattle Super Sonics and the New Jersey Nets. He was known as one of the most potent shot blockers in the league.
Q: What do you miss most about your playing days at Marquette?
JM: I miss hearing the national anthem that a brother and sister combo sang. I also miss hearing the pep band play "Georgia on my Mind" before the games. After a while it seems like it's the little things you miss most.
Q: Describe the transition between Marquette and the NBA.
JM: It was actually like the transition between high school and college. In high school, the best player you ever played against was an average player in college. It was the same way in the pros. The best college players I saw were now average.
Q: At what moment in the NBA did you realize you were no longer in college?
JM: My first game against the Lakers, I went to the line for a foul shot. I had always prided myself on shooting from the line in college. But (former Marquette star) Tony Smith…said something at the line that really got into my head. It really made me realize how mental a game basketball is. If you don't have control of the mental part, the physical part won't be there.
Q: Who was the best player you ever played against and what was it like playing against him?
A: Hakeem Olajuwon, because he was so agile and so mobile. Most centers have a shoulder that they favor. Hakeem was effective over either shoulder. It was extremely difficult to guard him. Also against most big guys of that caliber, a team will double or triple team him, but Hakeem was such a great passer, he made that extremely difficult.
Q: What was your favorite locker room story that the outside world never gets to see?
A: A player, who shall remain nameless, wore a toupee and was rather sensitive about it. His teammates knew about it, and one day at practice someone brought an extra toupee in. During the scrimmage, he bumped into him, throwing the extra on the floor. The team stood around, looking at it and asking, "Man, what is that?"
Q: What are you most looking forward to coming back to Marquette full time?
A: I'm excited about being a part of the atmosphere, being a part of the Marquette community again. I'm also looking to playing drums for a couple of songs with the Pep Band before the game.
Q: You are currently part of a non-profit organization that is trying to save your childhood YMCA basketball camp, Camp Anokijig, in Sheboygan. What about the camp makes it so special to you?
A: I'm part of an organization, Friends of Camp Anokijig (www.savecamp.com), whose goal it is to buy the camp from the Racine Family YMCA that is looking to sell the camp. I have been going to this camp since I was five years-old. It is an important part of my life, an important part of the community and important part of the life of so many who attended that camp.
Q: Assess the team's chances this season. What is their first run in the Big East going to be like?
A: This is a very young team. In fact, they remind me a lot of my team moving to the Great Midwest Conference after my freshman season. The step up in competition was dramatic and we had to adjust to playing at a different level. They have a lot of freshmen who are going to have to play a lot of minutes, and that is always going to be an unknown. The Big East is the best basketball conference in the country. Hopefully they will learn from the challenges they face and hopefully they will rise up to them.
Q: Who is going to have to step up in order for them to compete?
A: Dominic James has some big shoes to fill in replacing Travis Diener. Seeing how the team performed when Diener went down last year, it shows how vital it is to have a solid point guard if you want to have consistent success. No one is going to ask him to go out there and do what Travis did, but he's going to have to go out there and compete night after night against the some of the best point guards in the country.
Q: What are your goals for your broadcasting future?
A: Right now, I'm just going to focus on being there for my kids. I'm going to make a little time exception for Marquette and the Marquette family. My kids get a big kick out of going to the games, maybe as much as I do, and it is great to share that experience with them. Maybe after they turn 18 I will look for more employment, but not right now.
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 29, 2005.