Kriti Mehrotra
Netflix has released yet another installment of its ‘Last Chance’ franchise, but this time, there’s a twist. Instead of following junior college football, ‘Last Chance U: Basketball,’ as the title suggests, focuses on the sport that involves hoops 10 feet off the ground. This inspiring documentary series revolves around the East Los Angeles College (ELAC) Huskies as they try to win the California state championship. And with one of the most crucial players on the team being Malik Muhammad, we get a deep insight into his personal and playing life. So now, if you’re curious to know more about him, we’ve got you covered.
Who is Malik Muhammad?
Malik Muhammad was introduced to us on ‘Last Chance U: Basketball’ as a skillful center and power forward for the ELAC Huskies, starting all the games for his team at the national conference in 2019-20. However, his coaches made it no secret that despite his passion for the sport and resolution to do good on the hardwood floors, Malik lacked the drive to indulge in all the extra activities needed to keep up his performance. They said that although Malik has the athletic agility and mentality to be one of the best players in the game, he sometimes delayed his actions and just slacked.
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Malik himself knows about this, calling procrastination his biggest enemy. In fact, he revealed that it is the reason why he couldn’t get into a Division college directly after graduating high school. As per his accounts, Malik stopped caring about his grades and education during his final years at school, preferring to have fun and play ball. He implied that this behavior was partly due to his relationship with his biological father, who wasn’t around much to guide him growing up. But now that Malik understands that his father was on the path of finding himself during that time, he’s trying to do better.
There always has been and always will be love between the father-son duo. But as we see in the series, this doesn’t come without a few lectures from his father about Malik letting his actions affect his game. Thankfully, though, Malik started working on his downfalls and listened to his peers and coaches to improve his situation over time. In the end, with an average of 9.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game in the 2019-20 season, Malik managed to secure an offer from the Central Michigan University. At ELAC, his shooting percentage was 56.4% from the field and 70.7% from the line.
Where is Malik Muhammad Now?
Despite the extensive COVID-19 pandemic, as per the last reports, Malik Muhammad is a psychology major at the Central Michigan University, joining the Chippewas for the 2020-21 basketball season. “We are thrilled to have Malik Muhammad in our program here at CMU,” said Chippewas’ Head Coach, Keno Davis, after the ELAC student was signed. “Malik comes from one of the premier programs in the country… [and] also has the size and athleticism to give our frontcourt an immediate defensive presence with his shot-blocking and rebounding ability.”
As for Malik’s own opinions on the fact, we know that he’s more than ready to take on the next level. “I know I’m not done developing as a player,” he said on the Netflix series, “so (the) first thing I wanna do is try to get better. I want to be the best I could possibly be.” From what we can tell, with all the support Malik has garnered from his friends, family, and former coaches, if he sticks to his newfound confidence, independence, and determination, he’ll be able to achieve his dreams in no time. Malik’s social media indicates that he is perfectly content to be at CMU.
Read More: Where is KJ Allen Now?
