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S Malik Hooker (All B1G, All-American, Dallas Cowboys)

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July 30, 2013
'Canes' Hooker bound for Buckeyes
Andrew Petyak New Castle News

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NEW CASTLE ? New Castle High standout Malik Hooker has ended the speculation.

The three-sport star will wear scarlet and gray in 2014, committing to the NCAA Division I Ohio State University football team Monday night. Hooker, who will be a senior at New Castle in the fall, was one of the most highly recruited prospects out of Pennsylvania in both football and basketball.

?The first time I was there, it just felt right,? Hooker told Bucknuts.com. ?I just felt the spark that it was the right place to be. One visit was enough for me. I just felt like I was at home and the coaching staff, they?re all great people.?

Hooker, a 6-foot-2, 175-pounder, has just one year of varsity football experience, but his athleticism and performances for New Castle last season caught the eye of scouts across the country. He proved to be a gamebreaker in the Red Hurricane offense, rushing for 257 yards on 27 carries for a 9.5 yards per carry average. Hooker led New Castle in receiving with 333 yards on 13 receptions for a 25.6 yard average. He scored 11 total touchdowns.

?He went with Ohio State for a variety of reasons. I think he made a smart decision,? ?Canes coach Joe Cowart said. ?It wasn?t on a whim. I thought he wanted to get the decision out of the way to start the season. I think he?s excited about it. We as a football team, staff and school district, are thrilled for him.?

Hooker ranked as the eighth best overall prospect from the state of Pennsylvania by 24-7 sports. He is the 16th commitment for Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer?s 2014 recruiting class. As of now, Hooker is slated to play safety for the Buckeyes.

?I think he?s an abnormal competitor when he plays. He rises up to the challenge,? Cowart said. ?He?s an excellent competitor and has the skills that go along with it that are unique. He?s incredibly athletic with a body that is meant for football.?

Hooker also was heavily recruited in basketball. He helped lead the ?Canes basketball team to an undefeated regular season and a trip to the PIAA Class AAAA semifinals game, a loss to Lower Merion 67-63. Hooker finished with a team-high 19 points, two of which were the result of a dunk in the first half that was featured on ESPN?s Top 10 Plays of the Night. He finished the season with 16.7 points a game, fifth in Lawrence County, with a 62.5 percent free-throw percentage and 20 3-pointers.

Hooker also was a member of New Castle?s track and field team last season, earning a spot in the WPIAL Championships in the high jump.

With lingering questions about where Hooker will go out of the way, he can now focus solely on the upcoming football season ahead. Among reported interested suitors were Navy, Pitt, Penn State, Arizona and Michigan.

?I think he?s a great kid, a kid that everyone wants to root for because the classroom stuff matters to him and his teammates matter to him,? Cowart said. ?He?s humble at his core, so it?s going to carry him a long way. I couldn?t be more excited for the young man. I think he took the entire process completely seriously.?
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http://www.ncnewsonline.com/sports/x1645803358/Canes-Hooker-bound-for-Buckeyes
 
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Hooker pointed to a feeling of home as being a major influence in selecting Ohio State. Having a two-time national championship coach in Urban Meyer also helped.

?Not only did I like the campus and everything, I just liked the community I felt that I was around. I liked the coaching staff, that?s probably the best part of the school overall. The coaching staff is probably the best coaches I?ve talked to yet,? he said. ?Coach Urban Meyer is a great coach overall. I haven?t talked to him much, but when I did, he gave me great tips ? not only in football, but in my personal life.?

Off the field, Hooker plans on majoring in sports management or sports therapy when he begins at the university in 2014. On the field, he is looking forward to living one of his dreams.

?It was always a dream when you sit there and watch college football all the time. It?s just always somebody?s dream to end up playing in front of thousands and thousands of fans,? Hooker said. ?It was always a dream to me. I would have never thought this would happen after only playing nine games of high school football.

?I liked Ohio State for awhile. I also liked the University of Southern California, USC, because my favorite player, Reggie Bush, is from there. I was going in between those two teams, I always liked them. I started liking Ohio State more when Terrelle Pryor (a Jeannette product) went there from over this way in Pa. I just thought if he can do that, why can?t another kid from out here do that, you know? It?s just pretty much saying that dreams can come true.?

Coming to a decision before the season started was important to Hooker, who didn?t want to have it drag out and become a distraction.

?I felt that if I would have kept this thing going, it would have started to take my mind off the more importance things like my family. Not only that, but school is starting soon. It would have taken my mind off of stuff like that. I just felt like I needed to limit my time and make my decision,? Hooker said. ?My family is just as excited as I am. It took a lot of pressure off my them and off my coach. Now, getting this over with, is just like a relief on everything else. We can move on to more important things.?
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http://www.ncnewsonline.com/sports/...ootball-ahead-of-his-first-love-of-basketball
 
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Blue Chip Chat with ... Malik Hooker, New Castle
August 13, 2013
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

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Malik Hooker of New Castle high school is a two-sport athlete who has verbally committed to Ohio State as a defensive back.


By Mike White / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

DATA

Year: Senior

Height: 6-2

Weight: 190

Pos: WR-DB

THE SCOOP

Hooker's story is one of a player on the rise. He didn't play high school football until his junior year, and then rose to a guy who had two-dozen scholarship offers in less than a year. Until his junior season of 2012, the previous time Hooker played football was in eighth grade. But he showed so much talent, athletic ability and potential that he turned into a major-college prospect. On a team that didn't pass much, he led New Castle in receptions with 13 for 333 yards (25.6 average), rushed for 257 yards on 27 carries and was excellent at defensive back. Hooker is one of the best two-sport athletes in the state. He also is a standout in basketball and made the Post-Gazette Fabulous 5 in the spring. He also could have been a Division I prospect in basketball.

COLLEGE TALK

A few weeks ago, Hooker made a verbal commitment to Ohio State. He was recruited to play defensive back. Pitt was his other top choice, but he also had scholarship offers from Penn State, West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona and Nebraska among others.

OUR QUESTIONS, HIS ANSWERS

cont...
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Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories...malik-hooker-new-castle-699146/#ixzz2bwpjcmpT
 
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I'm loving the long, rangy and athletic players the staff is bringing in to play db now. Outside of armani reeves, pretty much all of our dbs have been over 6'0 with long arms and ultra athletic kids that played multiple sportd in high school and excelled. Get them in, and have withers and coombs get them fundamentally sound and adjusted to the speed of the college game, and we'll have a very good defensive backfield.
 
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Consider New Castle's Malik Hooker, who declined wideout offers (including from Pitt) and verbally committed to play defensive back at Ohio State. The 6-foot-2 senior also passed on potential basketball offers, believing he could follow a route similar to Revis, who also was a multisport star.

?If you're an athlete, no matter what you say, your dream is to make it pro,? Hooker said. ?That's all athletes' goal. When they said that, that was motivation for me. That drives me harder in practice to make it and be either just as good as Darrelle Revis or even better
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Read more: http://triblive.com/sports/hssports/football/4391418-74/defensive-henry-aliquippa#ixzz2cnCA1Qkk
 
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