Malik Hairston came into Oregon four years ago as possibly the most heralded recruit in Oregon basketball history. He was a Parade and McDonald’s All-American his senior year at Renaissance High in Detroit, Mich., and was rated the top shooting guard prospect in the nation by Rivals.com.
Many fans viewed him as a ready-made superstar that would elevate Oregon to the top of the college basketball world overnight, and then be gone just as quickly to the next level. The buzz word at the time was that he would “Carmelo-ize” Duck basketball.
But Hairston says he was never in any hurry to get in and out of college, and elevating the Oregon program was more of a personal thing for him than a mere stepping stone to the NBA.
“The whole ‘Carmelo-ize’ thing, people gave their own definition of it,” said Hairston. “I never said I wanted to come to college and be done after one year. My whole idea was having a huge effect on a program, that wasn’t necessarily as prominent as I wanted it to be by the time I was done with it.”
As Hairston moved closer toward finishing his degree his junior year, fans began to get nervous once again that Hairston was ready to move on. It looked to some like maybe he was tying up loose ends before going pro.
Hairston says he was just sticking to his plan, and following through on the work ethic his parents instilled in him early on. He says his parents, Richard and Elizabeth Hairston, were diligent in keeping him on track with his schoolwork, and studying hard just comes naturally as a result of his parents’ influence.
“They kept me very disciplined growing up. They were very strict in terms of me getting my books done and all that came before basketball,” Hairston said. “It carried over and I think that is definitely a testament to them.”
But he admits that finishing early was also a way to ensure that he had options.
“I definitely wanted to get done as soon as possible in case the opportunity did come up,” he said. “But I think I did the best thing by staying in school, continuing to work on my body and giving it another go-around.”
So Hairston, with his classmates and close friends Bryce Taylor and Maarty Leunen, are back for one more tour of the Pacific-10 Conference, and one more year to just hang around each other, enjoying college life.
The three have all completed their degrees, but must remain enrolled in 12 credits to be eligible to play. They decided to make the most of the time by taking all of their classes together.
“We’re all pretty close anyway, but it just adds to it because it’s spending time together doing stuff other than basketball,” Taylor said. The classes the three seniors are enrolled in together are yoga, billiards, and military science and an online course; not exactly the murderer’s row of college schedules.
“It’s pretty laid back,” Taylor said. “Just interesting stuff to keep you engaged but not be too overbearing.”
Leunen said that he views the more relaxed schedule the three enjoy as a reward of sorts for all the hard work they put in to graduate early.
“That’s why we worked hard our first three years,” Leunen said. “So we could get to this point senior year and hopefully have the academic side behind us.”
The favorite class of all three seniors is yoga, which they attend twice a week with fellow seniors Mitch Platt and Ray Schafer. All sing the praises of yoga in terms of how it relates to their abilities on the basketball court.
“You learn the proper way to breathe where you can just control your energy better,” Taylor said. “If you’re feeling a little but flustered or a little anxiety it can help you center yourself and just focus better.”
Leunen said the class has given him a whole new perspective on the importance of breathing, and some added flexibility.
“It’s kind of interesting how important breathing is to the mind and the body and everything. It’s my first time in a yoga class and I’ve never really thought about breathing like that,” he said. “It’s extremely challenging because I’m not the most flexible guy and some of those positions are just not for me, but it’s good to be in it just to challenge myself in terms of flexibility. It’s tiring.”
Coach Ernie Kent said that yoga is something a lot of NBA teams encourage their players to do, as added flexibility is an injury deterrent, and credits assistant coach Kenny Payne with getting Oregon players interested in it.
“He’s really pushed those guys to get into yoga to get more flexible,” Kent said. “It’s a big thing in the NBA now for guys to take yoga, just for flexibility and things like that, and it’s actually not a bad class for an athlete to be in, particularly in terms of flexibility and staying away from injuries.”
Hairston is eager to discuss flexibility and breathing techniques, but sounds even more pleased about getting to spend a few more months with the guys he came in with.
“It’s great, especially since most of us came in the door with each other, we’re just kind of going out together and spending lot of time with each other,” Hairston said. “This is our last go-around, we’ve only got maybe 12 more Pac-10 games, so we’re cherishing it and trying to make the best of it.”
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