Big Mac Fills A Tall Order

Big Mac had been contacted by several pro teams before the season began but elected to return to Western, finish his career and get his degree. The latter is genuinely important to McDaniels, who comes from an underprivileged family in Scottsville, Ky., about 25 miles' from Bowling Green. He went to a one-room, all-black school through the first eight grades and had so much catching up to do that his high school grades were too low for admission to many colleges. Everybody in his home town predicted that McDaniels would never make it academically. "Now I'm going to take that degree back home and wave it at a few folks," says McDaniels with a grin. Eventually McDaniels wants to be a social worker, preferably in a big-city ghetto. "I want to work with black kids," he says, "and say, 'Hey, I got my college degree, you can do it, too, and you don't have to be a basketball player, either.' You know, only a few years ago I was shining shoes in Scottsville for 20� a pair. Now sometimes I get my shoes shined."