The Malik Hairston recruitment will end sometime soon, likely by the middle of the week. “I’ll have a meeting with Coach Walker this week and my parents and a decision will be done,” Hairston said.
However, at this point, Hairston said he hasn’t eliminated anyone and doesn’t, in his mind have a favorite school. Well, he’s going to have to get moving if he wants to decide by mid-week.
In the last 7 days, he’s seen three schools. Most recently, he had an unofficial visit with Michigan and was at Oklahoma officially on Saturday. Last weekend was his Oregon trip.
“These last two visits [Oregon and Oklahoma], they both went very well. My father sparked the interest in Oregon and that made my curious. I didn’t know too much about Oregon. They have a minority coach whose perimeter players have had a lot of success and moved on to play at the next level. That was very attractive. Everything went well but it was a long way from home.
“Oklahoma was similar. Guys seemed to get along very well. The team has potential to do something in the tournament. I think both teams are just a step away.”
Hairston wanted to give the Wolverines a chance to make their final pitch as the hometown school. “Honestly, if Michigan had to offer the same things that the other schools did, I would go to Michigan. I mean, why go extremely far when you could stay home? I wanted to give Coach Amaker one last time to listen to his words.”
Still, there’s a hurdle for Michigan. It sounds like other programs have sold him more on the overall impact he can have on their situations.
“If [Michigan] were willing to make the similar commitment like me being that guy for their team, then I would stay at home. Michigan is an outstanding school. They’re a pretty storied school. They’re basically saying that I’ll be the guy for their team.”
Obviously, some schools have convinced Malik that he’ll be the star where others think he’ll be a piece that takes them to the next level.
“Some of them are telling me that I’ll be the piece of the puzzle that they’re missing. Kansas and Michigan are offering similar things. UCLA, Oklahoma, Ohio State and Oregon, they’re offering for me to run their team and I saw where it was possible when I was on the visit.”
“Michigan and Kansas are more like I’m the puzzle piece that they’re missing. They have perimeter players, but I would be another. I guess it’s somewhat of a disadvantage.”
So, with just a few days remaining before he decides, exactly what is Hairston looking for in a school? “What I’m looking for is to be very effective and have a lot of responsibility my freshman year. I want to be able to make my mistakes early so I can go ahead and improve on them.”