NEW YORK, June 11 - They fired question after question at Jameel McCline last Friday, and there were very few softballs tossed at the heavyweight contender. For over an hour, the inquisitors demanded answers: "How much money do you make?" "Were you overconfident after your first fight?" "Are you better than Muhammad Ali?"

McCline answered everything (for the record, his answers to the above questions were: a lot, but I don't get to keep it all, Yes, and Not yet.), and when the last question was uttered, he took a breath of relief before being rushed by the group of inquiring minds: the third graders from the Alexander Robertson elementary school in Manhattan.

It's become a ritual of sorts for McCline, who has been speaking to school children long before he made it to the 'Big Time' with a first round knockout of Michael Grant last July. In fact, it's how he met his wife, Tina, who accompanied him to the school, which is the oldest integrated co-ed school in NYC, and is the academic home to 66 children from grades kindergarten to six.

"It's wonderful that a person of his status takes the time to do this," said the school's Headmistress Leslie Merlin. "This does the most good with the older children who are looking for role models. This opens a window into possibilities for their own ambition. Even if they're not intending to be professional athletes, Jameel has a personality and qualities that anyone can relate to."

To get those qualities across, McCline, his right hand in a cast from recent surgery that will keep him out of the ring until October or November, meets with a group of around 25 children per visit. He doesn't speak in front of a large auditorium full of bored kids who are more interested in the latest videogame than what a pro athlete has to say. It's an intimate gathering, and the raised arms rarely come down as McCline takes questions that range from the typical to the insightful.

Do you get angry at the people you fight?

I like all the guys I work with. There's really no anger involved.

Do you worry about the dangers of boxing?

They're very real. You can't avoid them. The better you prepare going in, the better chance you have of coming out okay.

Do you have a special attack?

Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast, hit 'em often.

What was your favorite and least favorite subjects in school?

Favorite was Social Studies. Least favorite was Math.

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

I wanted to be a cop, a fireman, a scientist. Out of high school I wanted to be a psychologist. You never know where life is going to lead you.

And while some of the questions could make you laugh out loud (a recurring theme was whether the 6-6, 260 pound 'Big Time' had bodyguards), the question of who McCline's role model was when growing up struck to the heart of why he takes time to do this type of thing for children.

"I was asked several times who my role model was, and I never had one," admitted McCline. "My father was the closest role model for me, and in my situation, I didn't know he was my father until I was 11. I think it's very important for kids to have role models, someone to look up to, someone to be like. I didn't have a role model until I was 25. I wanted to be like my manager Alan (Wartski). I wish I had someone to follow when I was younger."

And if the reactions from the kids at the Alexander Robertson School are any indication, there will be a lot more people following the career of 'Big Time' as it unfolds. That's the biggest reward for McCline - that, and having an angelic looking first grader come up to him and say matter of factly, "I saw you on TV, punching people."

"I do know that if I can touch one kid - and it's a cliche saying, but it's true - then it's worth it," said McCline. "I had a girl come up to me at the boardwalk in Atlantic City and she almost brought me to tears. She was like, 'you're my idol, I want to be like you, can you sign my glove, can I get a picture with you?' She was all nervous and shaky. It's just really nice to know that I was able to touch someone like that without even knowing or speaking to them. So imagine what I can do by speaking to these kids, especially with my story about perseverance. That's why I wanted to emphasize to them that when I first started, no one thought anything of me for a long time."

As McCline makes his way from class to class on his way out of the school, the children are fascinated by his WBC Intercontinental belt, which he won from "GOOFi" Whitaker last December. Amazed by the weight of the belt, they struggle to lift it, and if they do manage, they all want to try it on. When McCline does get it back, he effortlessly slings it over his shoulder with his good hand; a feat that elicits oohs and aahs from his appreciative audience.

"It's weird because I've heard from other people that a lot of things I do, like my training regimen and speaking to kids and adults, are unique," said McCline. "I'm happy for that because I've always wanted to be different.

I've strived to be different. A lot of times, people ask me about Mike Tyson, and I'm kind of bored with it. I don't know Mike Tyson, and I don't dislike him or like him. I'm pretty much indifferent to him. It's just nice to know that I'm doing things differently."

It's this desire to do things differently that has made him a fighter to follow for the last year. He's still raw, a nod to his lack of an amateur career, but he has shown the type of skills and desire that could take him far with the right kind of fine-tuning. And it goes without saying that the past year has been memorable for the 32-year-old.

"It's been a whirlwind," said McCline (28-2-3 with 16 KOs) of life after Grant. "Wow, I've gone from obscurity to world fame. It's very humbling, it's frightening, and it's exciting. Everything's changed. Since beating Michael Grant, I went from number 41 in the world to number 5 in the world. That's amazing."

In his last bout, McCline scored a workmanlike 10-round decision over Shannon Briggs at the Theater of Madison Square Garden. It was a clear-cut victory, with McCline scoring a fifth round knockdown en route to the unanimous verdict, but many questioned whether the New Jersey resident was too timid against Briggs.

"Briggs totally bluffed me into not knocking him out," said McCline. "He came out big and strong, looking rough, and not to mention that he was probably the hardest puncher that I had ever been in with. I had been in there with Lewis with the 18's on, and this guy, with the 10's on, he can punch. Plus he was bigger than he had ever been. He forced me to reassess the situation in the first three or four minutes, and that is not my game plan. My game plan was to come out and do the same thing I did to Whitaker. But doing that with his punching power would have been taking unnecessary chances. So I just sat behind the jab, and when I started letting my hands go, he was so easy to hit. If it went 12 rounds I probably would have stopped him."

It was the type of win that has kept McCline on an upward swing in the wide-open heavyweight division. Unfortunately, the aforementioned hand surgery has put his plans to stay busy on hold for the moment.

"Before the surgery, we had August 31 locked in with Showtime," said McCline. "The reason we went to Showtime was because HBO didn't have any dates available and we wanted to show HBO that people want to see us, so if you don't have a date for us, we'll go somewhere else."

As far as opponents, McCline said, "(Lou) Savarese's name was thrown out, Larry Donald was thrown out. I thought the Larry Donald fight was a very attractive show, and I would do it if I could stay away from Don King getting anything but just that one fight. So it was Savarese, Donald, Derrick Jefferson, guys like that."

But that will have to wait until Fall, when McCline is projected to return to the ring. "Before the fight (vs. Briggs), I felt some pain in the middle finger and index finger, from pounding on it," said McCline. "I had pain for about eight to ten months. I fought twice within that time, and we figured it would go away with some rest and some rehab after the fight. But it didn't, so we had to go in and fix some things. I was told that I would be out 4 to 6 weeks, but I'm typically a fast healer, so I'm looking at 3 to 5 weeks."

Once he does return, the industry as well as the fans will watch McCline's progress closely. 'Big Time' has the confidence to get to the top, now it remains to be seen whether his skills will follow. The last year was wild enough; the next twelve months should be even wilder. He's ready.

"I just feel like I'm ready for anybody in the world," he said. "I'm kind of glad people didn't take notice of me all those years because it really gave me a chance to stay in the gym and stay at the level I was at, as opposed to people taking notice of me and pushing me to a level that I didn't belong at, which is what I think happened to Michael Grant. Michael Grant didn't belong in there with Lennox Lewis and I just don't want that to happen to me. I want to be physically, spiritually, mentally prepared for the world title when I get there."

When he gets there, there will be at least 66 children cheering him on. To them, Jameel McCline is their Muhammad Ali.

"Believe in yourself," McCline concluded as the third grade students prepared to rush him for autographs. "I was in the gym with some of the best fighters in the world. I was the last man on the totem pole. But I was the first one in the gym and I never gave up. I always persevered and now my dreams are coming true."