McClain attended Peoria Manual High School, and helped lead his basketball team to a record four consecutive state titles.
[2] McClain later played for Lon Kruger and Bill Self at the University of Illinois, along with his high school teammates Marcus Griffin and Frank Williams.
"The Peoria 3" anchored one of the Big Ten's top teams during their time there and the Illini ultimately earned a number one seed in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Elite 8.
His intimidating stature led Illini football coach Ron Turner to approach him about trying out for his team as a linebacker or safety, but after a few practices, McClain decided to focus on basketball.
He later served as head coach at the NJCAA Division II level for Parkland College in Champaign, Illinois from 2008 to 2009.