Q 6

PLAYBOY: How widespread is cheating today?

Al McGuire: Two percent would be a lot. You're always going to have a percentage of people who go beyond the rules. I don't care what it is, religion or sex, it's always two percent. In the collegiate world, the cheating becomes a crutch for the coaches who are losing. They always say, "If I cheated, I'd be winning." So the public forms the opinion that 50 percent of the schools are cheating, and it's not true. You will find, in fact, that when they get down to investigate, there'll be five schools on probation. when you put the numbers into your computer, you'll find out that it's two percent. That's all it ever is. Remember, you're dealing with a 17-and-a-half-year-old ballplayer when you're recruiting. Who the hell would put his life on the line and trust a 17-and-a-half-year-old kid?

Q 7

PLAYBOY: Would be safe in saying that not much under-the-table business went on while you were at Marquette, then?

Al McGuire: Everyone would like to think that it went on, but no. My guys got degrees. I'm not saying that they were Einsteins; they were marginal students. But every ballplayer who ever touched me has moved up his station in life. And the players moved up my station. No school ever made a Rhodes scholar; they're born. You can't show me a coach who has made an all-American. God makes those.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: Does God have a place in the locker room?

Al McGuire: I've never had that question asked of me before. Yeah, I think He's there. If there weren't a God, those guys wouldn't be in there. Other people can't do what they can do, just in terms of their abilities, their talents and ballerina moves. At Marquette, which is a Catholic school, we always said a pregame prayer in the locker room and a priest always traveled with us. As long as my players believed in something, I didn't care. I've had a hard enough job saving myself. I can't save anybody else.

Q 9

PLAYBOY: Fans will always remember you weeping on the bench as Marquette clinched the 1977 N.C.A.A. championship. That moment might have been a watershed in the new age of male sensitivity. How do you feel about men's crying?

Al McGuire: Well, you'd rather cry alone. It was a thing pent up after all the years of my jerking around in sports. It was probably a million-dollar cry. I think it changed how I was perceived by a lot of people throughout the country. But I was never ashamed of my emotions. Coaches usually show emotion. Some don't. The ones who don't, end up with ulcers.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: In terms of levels of emotional satisfaction, what's the difference between winning over the other team and slaughtering them?

Al McGuire: Amateur coaches--those who are not quality and who aren't going to stand the test of time--believe in burying opponents. They believe in winning a football game 40 to nothing or in winning a basketball game by 34 points. You're obviously gladiating, but you're not looking to cost someone else his job. Coaches are your brothers; you help one another. So a coach who tries to bury someone doesn't belong in the professional and won't have a long stay in it. He doesn't understand that coaching is a profession, not a hobby.

I personally would never involve myself and another coach in a vendetta. It's not worth it. All I wanted was to get a W. During time-outs, I would say, "Win, for Christ's sake! Win! What are you jerking around for? I was not a physical coach. I worked on your mind, not your body. People who are tough in the head are champions. Losers learn by losing and winners learn by winning. I never said a word to my team after a loss. I just left them alone. I've never given an excuse and I've never accepted an excuse. It's important to win, because someone is keeping score. But as far as being realistic goes, the only important things in life to win are surgery and war.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: Now that your coaching days are presumably over, you don't have as much at stake. What gets your blood up these days?

Al McGuire: It gets me up to go into Bloomington or South Bend or Lexington, where each town tries to prove that it's the basketball capital of the country. They'll Windex the backboards, and the cheerleaders have had their hair in curlers all night and they press their outfits. And the bands get me up. And, to be honest with you, the cheerleaders kind of turn me on, too. But if my wife is in the audience, I don't look at them.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: Who has the best cheerleaders in the N.C.A.A.?

Al McGuire: As a group and as a rhythm, the UCLA Bruins have a lot of true keepers out there. They remind me of that old country song that goes, You know I'm not that strong when you shake that thing. To me, even the worst college cheerleader is better than the best pro cheerleader. The pro cheerleaders put on a little too much rouge and seem to have too many places where you can hang your hat. But in college, they just seem to be turned on. It seems to be a legitimate, genuine concern. They don't seem to be looking for the red light on the camera.