Mott’s Malik Albert signed with Creighton University last month.
Malik Albert, among the most electrifying athletes to ever come out of Mott Community College, resurfaced at Creighton University last month. Albert was off the radar after a year away from competitive basketball to work on his academic credentials.
Albert, a 6-2 combo guard from Detroit, is among the most prolific scorers during head coach Steve Schmidt’s tenure at Mott. Only Jeremie Simmons (Ohio State) scored more points in his career at Mott than Albert (1,248).
This week, Albert was profiled in the Omaha World-Herald (Omaha.com)
Albert is one of the 18 Division II junior college All-Americans who have played for Schmidt in his 24 seasons at Mott. Though the coach is proud of what Albert achieved on the court, Schmidt is even more impressed by what he did off it.
After two seasons at Mott, Albert had to sit out last season to finish up academic requirements for his associate degree.
“I’m very proud of him for persevering through the academic challenge,” Schmidt said. “He earned this opportunity. In this day and age, a lot of people cut corners and take shortcuts.
“Malik didn’t. He stayed the course and he earned his degree. That’s quite an accomplishment, given how challenged he was academically three years ago. It wasn’t because he didn’t have the capability but he didn’t take his academics seriously. I proud he’s now in a position to take the next step.”
It’s tough to call Albert an underachiever at Mott, based on his team’s winning percentage and his personal accolades. That said, Albert is a very rare athletic talent who just needed some more time to get his life together. I think anyone who watched him for two years at Mott would agree that his best basketball is ahead of him. He’s had the tools; add the desire and the sky’s the limit.
And if you’re curious, the reporter put Albert’s vertical jump at over 40 inches.