December 24, 2011 6:32PM
Updated: December 24, 2011 8:18PM
McGlother "Mac" Irvin turned a small South Side basketball program, the Mac Irvin Fire, into a nationally recognized powerhouse. His influence and charisma earned him a nickname so well established that public-address announcers in gyms across Chicago would proclaim his entrance: "The Godfather is in the building."
Mr. Irvin, 74, died Saturday at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Irvin was a diabetic and had been suffering from various complications since July.
"We lost a giant here in the city of Chicago," said Sonny Parker, a former NBA player who played for and coached with Irvin. "He has touched all of us. We don't have a replacement for him."
Mr. Irvin played basketball at Tilden High School and was a longtime executive at Xerox. He started working in South Side basketball programs in the early 1970s and eventually built his club program into the most dominant in the city and one of the most well-known in the country. Irvin retired from Xerox in 1992 and was hired by Sonny Vaccaro and Adidas as a consultant. From then on, his influence and reputation grew.
"He was very positive, very uplifting," Parker said. "Everyone respected him in our community. I guess that's why they called him the godfather. He loved people. He was that type of person."
Irvin's influence on the Chicago basketball scene in the last 30 years was monumental. He mentored two generations of basketball players, dozens of whom went on to play professionally, including Antoine Walker, Melvin Ely and Juwan Howard.
"Mac Irvin has always been a prominent figure in the high school basketball community," said Chicago Public Schools sports director Calvin Davis. "He has coached some of the best talent in the country. We will miss him greatly."
Irvin is survived by his wife, Louise, seven children and eight grandchildren.
"There has never been a nicer and more influential person [than Mac Irvin] for the benefit of kids that I have ever met in my entire life," Sonny Vaccaro said. "What he was able to do for the people in Chicago, and kids across the country, is unparalleled. He helped everyone. There are so few people with the heart of a Mac Irvin, he was truly about the kids."
All of Irvin's children are involved with basketball or education in some way. His daughter Cindy works for the board of education; Lance is an assistant college basketball coach; Byron is an NBA agent; Nick is the coach at Morgan Park; Mac Jr. runs the Lady Fire; and Mike runs the Mac Irvin Fire and is a major presence in the city's social scene.
"He was everything to Chicago," Nick said. "He was our father, but he was a father figure to so many other kids in Chicago. Our house was open to one and all. My family and I will continue to try to carry on the legacy that he has set."
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