DeKALB | Dave Kaplan’s schedule is busy, hectic, frantic and exciting, but none of these words paint a complete picture of his life.

A former NIU men’s assistant basketball coach, Kaplan now works for Comcast, WGN-Radio and ESPN as a color analyst.

Tonight he’ll be covering Marquette’s basketball game against DePaul. This Sunday he’ll be calling Notre Dame versus Cincinnati.

Last Saturday the former Huskie coach announced the NIU woman’s game against Bowling Green, where the Northern Star slide into Kaplan’s hectic schedule.

Northern Star: What’s it like to be back at Northern to cover a game?

Dave Kaplan: I get to do football games, so I’m back here a lot in the fall. I don’t get to be back here too much in the winter because my schedule with either WGN-Radio or ESPN television takes me all over the place.

But when I had the opportunity to do this game, I was really excited because this is my second home. I look at the greatest professional influence on my life, and it’s John McDougal [head coach while Kaplan was an assistant]. I call him my second father.

Some of my greatest memories are right here in DeKalb. To get the opportunity to come back here is great.

NS: How does the Convocation Center differ from the Chick Evans Field House?

DK: [The Convo] is much more state of the art. And I think to recruit to a building like this is great. You can bring a kid in and say ‘hey, if we get this program rolling and fill this place, you’ll have an unbelievable environment.’

But Chick Evans Field House, the four years I was here, sold out a number of times. There was something about the intimacy of the arena. The students would call their section the verbal abuse section. I mean they got into it.

Players like Battle and some of the other ones – kids with great talent – that is what the fans really enjoyed watching. That was far more intimate.

NS: Are there any moments which stick out in your head from when you were a coach?

DK: There’s just so many of them. We had so many thrilling moments. We didn’t go to the tournament the four years I was here.

But we had Kenny Battle play for us. And one of my all time favorite players is Carl Armato. He’s now an assistant coach here. I’ve never been around a kid who played with as much intensity and enthusiasm. He’s one of the smarter players I’ve ever seen.

We upset Marquette – we beat them twice in three years. We had DePaul, they were the No. 1 team in the country, and we lost by one at the now Allstate Arena. We had them.

Then they came up the next year to Rockford and it was tied with eight seconds left. Comegys got the stick back and they beat us by two. So we’ve had some thrilling moments.

I just love being back here in this community. I’m really excited to see a lot of my old friends like Mike Korcek. One of my dearest friends is the AD [athletic director], Jim Phillips. So, to get a chance to see him and everybody, it was a no brainer to make this trip. I had the Northwestern-Penn State game, but turned it down to be here.

NS: How did you get started in your broadcasting career?

DK: I left here in 1986 when coach McDougal was fired. I then started my own scouting service called the Windy City Round Ball Review and I started to make really good contacts throughout the college basketball world.

It led to me doing games as a color analyst. From that, it led to me getting some radio opportunity. And then All Sports Radio came in. There was no All Sports Radio before then.

One of the games I was doing was with a play-by-play guy just starting out — Thom Brennaman. We became best of friends. And a couple years later, he’s at WGN doing the Cubs at the time.

A couple years later, he gives me a call saying there’s an opening at WGN. So, I ended up getting an interview, and I got the job. I’ve been there 12 years now.

So, it was being in the right place at the right time. But I really believe that’s how I live my life. If you have a passion for what you’re doing, whether it’s broadcasting, driving a cab, coaching – whatever it is you do, you’ll be good at it. I just can’t imagine hating going to work. I’m the luckiest guy in the world, I love doing what I do.

NS: Is it exciting living such a busy life?

DK: Always. I’m very lucky though, I have a wife from this area. She went to Northern, ironically the four years I coach here. I never met her while coaching.

She’s from Dixon and we ended up meeting when I was voicing her commercial over in Chicago on WGN. We meet at a Cubs game and ended up getting married in June ‘04. She’s very understanding, and she works as well. She understands what I do, what moves me. She’s incredibly supportive.

To give you an example, we’re sitting together talking about going out to dinner with the kids on Sunday night. We’re at breakfast as a family and the phone rings, and I look at the number and it’s an ESPN number. I answer it and they say our analyst got snowed in. ‘Can you go right now to Milwaukee because Syracuse is at Marquette?’

I didn’t get a hard time. My wife says, ‘awesome, what time’s the game, we’ll watch it as a family.’ I have incredible support at home. My parents were incredibly supportive to get this career going, and I think I am the luckiest person in the world. I have a wife and four great kids.

NS: Do you ever miss coaching?

DK: It’s funny that you say that. There are times when the game ends and you take your game notes and they go into the garbage. And you prepare for Tuesday’s game. Then that games ends.

Yet when you coach, the games end and then you go right back to the office and start looking at film and planning practice for the next day.

There’s time I look at it and I feel like I should go back to coaching. I feel like I’ve gained so much knowledge doing games for almost 20 years. Maybe I’ll be a better coach today than I ever was.

But I’m so happy doing what I’m doing with radio, TV, basketball, baseball and football that it would be hard for me to give that up.

NS: What’s your favorite sport to cover?

DK: My favorite to announce is basketball, but my favorite sport is baseball. The Cubs are in my heart. I grew up listening to WGN and now I work there. If I left WGN today, the Cubs are still in my blood. Everyone has one team, and that’s my team.