Hairston Plans To Visit UCLA And KU

Malik Hairston, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound shooting guard from Renaissance High School in Detroit, MI., was one of the most productive players during the AAU circuit. Now that his summer is complete, Hairston will devote more time to his recruitment, which has greatly increased during the last month. Many of the nation’s most elite programs are interested in the talented two-guard, but eight schools have moved in front on the pack. Two of those schools, UCLA and Kansas, will receive an official visit from the Detroit native.

“Michigan State, UCLA, Kansas, Michigan, Connecticut, Ohio State, Cincinnati and California are the schools that are really interested in me,” Hairston said. “Those eight schools are showing the most interest right now. California just began recruiting me hard, so I don’t really know what’s going to happen with them.

“I will definitely take official visits to UCLA and Kansas,” he added. “No dates have been scheduled just yet, but those are two schools that will receive official visits from me. I really like the coaching staff from each school. I’ve had conversations with Coach Howland and Coach Zeigler from UCLA and Coach Self and Coach Roberts from Kansas.

While the Bruins and Jayhawks appear to be in the driver’s seat for Hairston, that isn’t necessarily the case. He’s taken unofficial visits to Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State, so he is somewhat familiar with each of those programs.

“I really enjoyed my unofficial visits to Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State,” Hairston said. “As far as the coaches go, I really like Coach Izzo from Michigan State. I know our relationship would be different if I was to play for him, but that would be the case no matter what school I attended.”

There is a chance that Hairston could use all five official visits, but he isn’t certain just yet. He will have a better idea once he returns home from his visits to UCLA and Kansas.

“I really don’t know if I will take all five official visits,” he said. “It’s hard for me to say right now. I’ll just see how I enjoy my first two visits and go from there. I plan to get a good look at each campus and see how comfortable I feel. I really want to get a good feel for the comfort level.”

Hairston will spend the rest of the summer preparing for his final year of high school basketball. His biggest goal to accomplish is winning the city and state championship.

“I am really upset that my AAU team didn’t win any events this summer,” he said. “This was my last summer of AAU ball, so that kind of hurts. I hope to win a city championship and a state championship.

“Playing in the McDonalds All-American game would also be a great honor,” he added. “To say that I have a chance to become an All-American is a real blessing.”

Rivals.com ranks Hairston No. 7 on the Rivals150 list and the No. 1 player at his position.