Malik Monk has a long list of accomplishments in his young basketball career. He was named the 2016 Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year, he was also a member of the 2015-16 USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Team. In addition, Monk won the McDonald’s 3-point shooting contest. The Kentucky Wildcats landed another top recruit who averaged 28.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists as a senior in high school.
Malik Monk said the following in an interview with USA Today.
It was nice to win the three-point contest at the Chicago Theatre. That was the first basketball event there ever and the turnout with the crowd was great. The setup was nice with the court on the stage.
Monk continued:
I just did my usual routine before, and I knew I could do something special. We had a shoot-around the day before so I got used to the court. If you’re not used to shooting with a background like that it could tough, but I’m always confident so I think I’m going to win anything.
The following is from John Calipari: as he discussed the signing of Monk.
“Malik is a scoring point guard who can play both positions,” Calipari said. “Malik has Derrick Rose explosiveness. Think about that for a second. He’s as good of a scorer, as good of a shooter and as good of a shot creator as I’ve seen in a while. With his quickness and speed, he should be a great defender – a great defender.”
Matt Norlander of CBS Sports made some important notes about Monk as he heads into his first year at a talented Kentucky program.
“Monk is a scorer, an athlete, a flying freak, basically. A flawed but super-entertaining player, he’s a guy who could wind up averaging more than 15 points per game for the Wildcats — as a freshman. He’s also got a great ferociousness for the rim. He put on a show with some sweet slams in the scrimmage.”
Malik Monk made his presence known at Kentucky’s Big Blue Madness on Friday. His high-flying dunks will be a joy to watch for Wildcats fans.
Here is a 360 dunk that Malik threw down on a fast break.
Here is another great dunk by Malik.
Stop what you're doing and watch Malik Monk destroy the universe with this dunk till the end of time. pic.twitter.com/MWfJAjbimZ
— Scott Charlton (@Scott_Charlton) October 22, 2016
Malik is just scraping the surface of what he can do and he’s putting everyone on notice going into the 2016-17 College Basketball season.
