The Sky’s The Limit
10/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 7, 2016
Grace Amberg
Ohio State Athletic Communications
Preview of the October 8th edition of the Ohio State Football Official Gameday Magazine. Gameday Magazines are available for purchase for $10 in and around Ohio Stadium.
Growing up, important milestones are shared with those who mean the most to us. Malik Hooker can easily point to the influential people in his life. The first time he picked up a football, his uncle was there guiding him. The first time he suited up for a high school basketball game, his coach was cheering him on. When he became a starter for the Ohio State football team, his mom was in the postgame press conference. All of Hooker’s influences were constants through the highs and the lows, making up his pillar of success.
Though Hooker has always played football, the New Castle, Pa., native is first and foremost a basketball player. He began to take football more seriously in his later years of high school and cites his teaching influences as the reason for the shift.
“I was just out there playing because I love competing in sports,” Hooker said. “My football coach, my basketball coach and my uncle all told me that I look like a football player. I made the transition and it ended up working out for me.”
Once Hooker set foot in Columbus as a freshman, the safety went through a tough transition. Like any new student, Hooker found the changes to be a difficult adjustment. Add on the challenge of being a rookie on the football team and the process becomes daunting, but Hooker had the rest of the 2014 class by his side to help him through.
“I knew Noah [Brown] and Darius [Slade] when I first joined the team because they were my roommates,” Hooker said. “After practice, we would go back to the room and talk about how hard it was, but at the end of the day we told each other that we were going to make it through and that it was going to work out. The whole 2014 class helped me out. I just trusted what they were saying, sticking it out and it ended up paying off.”
Hooker, now a sophomore, stepped into the starting position and quickly became a sensation among Buckeye fans. He leads the team with three interceptions, two of which came against Bowling Green in the season opener for a total return of 44 yards. After the game, Hooker’s mother had a chance to partake in postgame interviews to speak on her son’s talents, something the safety will cherish long after he leaves Ohio State.
“It was exciting,” Hooker said. “Not a lot of people realize how much my mom goes through on a daily basis. She takes care of all seven of us now; my sister and my brother have kids. She goes through a lot of struggle. To have her in there and getting the attention was really heartwarming for me.”
Malik Hooker has a support system of coaches, family and teammates he can count on, which makes going forward with the team this year that much more exciting and rewarding.
“The sky’s the limit for us because we’ve got a lot of good guys on and off the field,” Hooker said. “I can’t wait to see how it all pays off.”
