Published Sunday, Jan. 19, 1996 
Mercer County
Hall of Fame
Former UCLA and NBA star Jamaal Wiles discussed balance -- in basketball and in life -- during a clinic Saturday at Farrell's E.J. McCluskey Gymnasium (Clem Marion/Herald)
Be balanced, efficient, stars say
By Brad IslesHerald Sports Writer
VERY FEW INDIVIDUALS are lucky enough to have someone make an impact on them that will last a lifetime.
Former UCLA Bruin and National Basketball Association all- star Jamaal Keith Wilkes was fortunate. He got to play for, perhaps, the best college coach ever in John Wooden. And Saturday afternoon, among the ghosts of greatness in Farrell High School's E.J. McCluskey Gymnasium, Wilkes hoped to make an impact of his own.
Relaying information he absorbed more from Wooden and less from his other coaches, Wilkes helped conduct a basket ball clinic to about 40 area youngsters, half of whom participated actively in drills. But during the hour-long presentation, he spoke more about life than Xs and Os.
``The single greatest, most powerful word in the world is love,'' Wilkes told the crowd. ``It's all about saying `Thank you' when people do things for you and showing consideration for others.''
Wilkes combined fundamentals _ both on and off the court _ in conveying his message. Demonstrating the proper stance to take while playing, he talked about balance, and not just that required to be a good shooter, defender or rebounder.
``You've got to learn balance,'' Wilkes said. ``You've got to have physical balance, emotional balance and mental balance throughout life and the things you do.''
Wilkes was in the Shenango Valley for Saturday night's 50th Mercer County Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where he served as the featured speaker. He speaks at events across the country, and through his organization, ``Jump Ball,'' he puts on clinics such as the admission-free one at Farrell.
``As someone who has been fortunate to be in the sport and also who is a parent today, I think the most important thing we can do is work with our young people,'' Wilkes said. ``I try to say things that mean a lot of different things to different people at different stages of their life.''
Wilkes grew up in southern California and was a 2-time All-American and national Player of the Year his senior season at Santa Barbara High School.
From there he accepted an athletic scholarship at UCLA and went on to play on the Bruins' national championship teams of the early '70s. Wilkes was a 2-time All-American and 2-time scholastic All-American while earning a bachelor's degree in economics.
The Golden State Warriors selected Wilkes in the first round of the 1974 draft and he garnered NBA Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 14.2 points per game. The same year, the Warriors won the NBA Championship.
He continued his winning ways with the Los Angeles Lakers for eight years and adding another three NBA titles during the early '80s. He retired in 1985 after a brief stay with the L.A. Clippers.
Throughout his career, Wilkes was flanked by superstars _ Bill Walton at UCLA, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at Los Angeles _ but the person he remembers most is the legendary Wooden.
``Playing for coach Wooden and that whole experience has been the most lasting thing I experienced,'' Wilkes said. ``Many of the things he taught us as basketball players, he was also teaching us about life. Now that I'm a parent, I find myself thinking about those things over and over. I think of him often.''
After Wilkes put the clinic-goers through some balance drills, Jack Marin, perhaps the best professional athlete ever to come out of Mercer County, took center court to talk about shooting.
``It's a great feeling to be back in this building,'' Marin said in addressing the gathering. ``The great tradition of this place makes it almost hard to speak.''
Marin graduated from Farrell High in 1962 after scoring 529 points and earning all-state honors for coach Eddie McCluskey. From there he went on to star at Duke University, and after his Blue Devils career the NBA's Baltimore Bullets chose him in the first round of the 1966 draft.
During his 901-game NBA stint with the Bullets, Houston Rockets, Buffalo Braves and Chicago Bulls, Marin scored 13,301 points.
Like Wilkes, Marin had a coach who affected him at an early age. That coach was McCluskey.
``I feel I played for the greatest high school coach, and Jamaal played for the greatest college coach,'' Marin said. ``The coaches who taught us deserve most of the credit.''
Marin showed the crowd he hadn't lost his deft free-throw shooting ability during his demonstration. It was the same skill that allowed him to shoot 84 percent from the line during his career.
After missing his first attempt and then making three perfect shots in a row that curled the net, the lefty joked, ``That must be an old rim up there.''
Where Wilkes talked about balance, Marin talked about efficiency.
``Every time you do something somebody is going to smack you for, you're doing something inefficient,'' Marin said. ``You can learn efficiency through sports. It will carry over towards life.''
Old rim or new, missed shot or made, it was a day for local kids to learn something from a couple ``oldtimers,'' who played before they were even born. But it also was a day for them to learn from a couple all-stars _ both on the court and off.