Malik ducks KU for Oregon

After much deliberation, high school standout spurns Jayhawks

Malik Hairston has big plans for his first year of college.

“I want to ‘Carmelo-ize’ Oregon,'” Hairston, a 6-foot-6 McDonald’s All-American, said Wednesday, announcing his choice to play basketball at the University of Oregon instead of Kansas University at a news conference at Detroit’s Renaissance High.

To ‘Carmelo-ize’ Oregon, he meant leading the Ducks to a national championship his freshman season then perhaps bolting for the NBA, like Carmelo Anthony did at Syracuse.

“Hopefully, I will have that strong an effect my first year — if not, my second,” said Hairston, who does have at least one eye on the NBA after averaging 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five blocks last season. “How many years until I get to the NBA? However long it takes.”

He said choosing Oregon over KU, Michigan, Ohio State, UCLA and Oklahoma was a tough decision.

“One day I was leaning toward Kansas. One day toward Ohio State. When I got the opportunity to sit down, it’s when I decided on Oregon (Monday night),” Hairston said.

It was an especially tough decision because his dad’s choice was Kansas, his mother’s Oregon, and his brother’s Michigan.

“I was pushing for Kansas. Going to Oregon, you will have the weight of the world to perform,” dad Richard said. “At Kansas you have a better supporting cast. You could piggy-back on that with all the scouts looking at the other players. Putting it in his (Malik’s) words, he wouldn’t have to ‘Carmelo-ize’ it.”

Of Oregon, mom Elizabeth noted: “When I met coach (Ernie) Kent, I knew in my heart this was the coach for my son.”

Of his brother, Malik said: “He just wanted to be able to see me play. I think most of it was just joking, because either way it was my decision. Any decision would have satisfied them.”

Hairston said he could gain a starting berth right away at Oregon — a Luke Jackson-led team that went 18-13 last season, advancing to the semifinals of the postseason NIT.

“But I will still have to earn it,” he said. “The area is quiet. A subtle and calm area will allow me to focus.”

He had good things to say about KU.

“They have a great coach in Bill Self. They’ll have a lot of success regardless of the recruits. I wish them the best of luck,” said Hairston, who phoned Self and Kent with his decision after the news conference.

“I think he wanted to get away and set his own trend,” said Speedy Walker, Hairston’s AAU coach. “He wanted to pioneer something, not ride on the wagon. He wanted something he could build.”

KU is recruiting another of Walker’s players — Chris Douglas-Roberts, a 6-5 junior from Detroit’s Cass Tech.

  • Self on Malik: KU coach Self reflected on the recruitment of Hairston on Wednesday night.

“It was certainly an interesting recruitment, and I think all the schools involved are probably happy a decision was reached even if only one school was the chosen school,” Self said.

“Certainly every recruitment is different,” added Self, asked about the many months it took Hairston to pick a school. “A lot of times in recruiting you are not always on your timetable, you are on someone else’s. In our situation we were not recruiting just him.

I hope he has a great career, but by no means were we putting all our eggs in his basket.”

  • Galindo finishes visit: Alex Galindo, a 6-7 senior guard from St. Benedict Prep in Newark, N.J., spent the past two days on Georgetown’s campus. In the next couple days, he will choose either KU, Georgetown, Rutgers or Pitt.
  • Weekend visitors: KU will host three visitors this weekend: C.J. Giles, a 6-10 senior from Seattle; Micah Downs, a 6-8 junior from Bothell, Wash.; and Mario Chalmers, 6-1 junior from Anchorage, Alaska. Giles is considering KU and Washington; Downs KU, Duke and Gonzaga; and Chalmers KU, Arizona, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech. Downs told Shay Wildeboor of rivals.com KU remained his favorite, noting his dad always wanted him to attend KU.
  • Arena pleases coach: Self attended the press conference to announce the building of a new downtown arena in Kansas City, Mo.

“Anything to revitalize the downtown area which the arena will play a huge role is positive,” Self said. “The NABC and Hall of Fame will be something people all around the country could take advantage of. We can take more advantage of it because we’re local. From a selfish standpoint, we want to play as many Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournaments in Kansas city as we possibly can. Having Kansas City as a site is a positive.”

  • Wilkes headed to Stanford: Former KU guard Omar Wilkes continues to zero in on Stanford as a likely destination. Wilkes tells thebootleg.com he’s completed a Stanford transfer admissions application and soon will set up a campus visit. He’s also considering California.