The Week Ahead

SATURDAY 6/11 You Can Call Me Al

Dick Enberg first got the idea for McGuire , his one-man play about basketball coach and commentator Al McGuire , while composing a tribute for McGuire 's funeral in 2001. "I started thinking about all the wonderful things I learned from him," says Enberg, 70, who worked college hoops with McGuire . "He was a street genius. The more I wrote, the more I realized there was so much material, it could be a play-- Al McGuire sharing his wisdom with a college audience." The result, which stars Cotter Smith (above, left), premieres this Saturday at Marquette 's Helfaer Theatre and runs through June 19. The play begins with McGuire (right) leading Marquette to the 1977 NCAA title and ends with his battle with the blood disorder that took his life at age 72. "I put the words on the paper, but Al wrote every word of it. If it isn't good," Enberg laughs, "I'll just blame Al."--R.D.