Morgan State men’s basketball senior Malik Miller recently chatted with PressBox about his favorite memory so far at Morgan, the player who motivated him early in his college career and more. The 6-foot-4, 191-pound guard averaged 12.8 points and 8.8 rebounds during the 2021-22 season. Miller is a native of Washington, D.C., and graduate of Friendship Tech Prep.
PressBox: How did you become interested in basketball?
Malik Miller: For me, it was a sport that I used to watch at the time. I kind of just fell in love with it. I used to go the court when I was probably 5 or 6 with my dad and it’s kind of something that I just fell in love with. Down the line I realized that this is a professional sport. Why not try to get paid for something that I love doing? That’s how my love began.
PB: Who was the biggest influence on your game growing up?
MM: I feel like the biggest influence for me was just my family, trying to make it every day so that I can take care of them and get them all the things that they deserve and that they want in life, kind of help them with that aspect of life.
PB: Why did you choose to come to Morgan State?
MM: I loved it. When I came here, there was just a great culture, family-oriented atmosphere that I just loved about it. I looked around, pinching myself imagining myself walking to campus, going to the game. For me, it just felt like a perfect fit. They kind of opened their arms to me and I just walked right in.
PB: What’s your favorite memory so far at Morgan?
MM: My greatest one was when we made it to the MEAC championship [in 2021]. I’m going to go with that one. … I remember everything. I remember the bus ride the night before, how I’m studying the plays, looking at their offensive sets, just really locked in. … Everything that we did [that year] was for this moment, so for me, I kind of was just daydreaming about winning and us having that banner up and that kind of thing. I also learned that you’ve got to always stay locked in. I felt like we were prepared, we just didn’t execute everything like we should’ve. I feel like when we get in that situation again, it’s going to be a different story.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Morgan?
MM: I’m going to go with just the culture. I love the culture, walking around campus and being able to fit in. I think that’s big. I love the culture.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Baltimore?
MM: I’m probably going to go with the seafood. The crab cakes, the crabs are probably my favorite. My favorite seafood spot, I go to this place called Not Just Crab [in Randallstown].
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
MM: For the most part, everybody’s like a best friend to me, but the person that I’m with the most is De’Torrion Ware. For us, we’ve got a relationship that me and him understand. We don’t have to really explain or talk about it. We just understand what it is. [One time during a game], we were talking. I looked at him, he looked at me and we were like, “Yeah, this is an easy game today.” Not an easy game, but we were just locked in and it was like, “Yeah, it’s that time today.” That’s how we always are for the most part.
PB: Who did you look up to early in your career at Morgan?
MM: I wouldn’t say look up to, but I was motivated by him a lot — his name is Stanley Davis. I was motivated by how he approached the game, how he approached practice, how he came in every day and just worked. It was the way he practiced. He’s playing like he’s got no food. He had a grit about him that motivated me to be that way.
PB: What advice would you give to younger players?
MM: Focus on the work. Focus on getting better every day. Don’t worry about who’s getting what offers. Don’t worry about who’s getting what they’re getting. Focus on your play. Just try to put as much food as you can on your plate and everything else is going to come.
PB: What are your goals for after college basketball?
MM: To play professionally, if that’s the NBA, G League or overseas, whatever the case may be. My goal is to make money [in] this game. [I am majoring] in electrical engineering. I don’t have any family members that are in engineering, but I picked it because I always wanted to make an XBOX or a PS4 or something like that. Me growing up as a kid, I wanted to be able to do this one day. I kind of just took that approach to it.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Morgan State Athletics