COLUMBUS: When Ohio State safety Malik Hooker goes home now, he no longer sets off on foot when it’s time to return to Columbus, fighting his emotions as he struggles to get in the car.
Until last winter, that happened regularly. The third-year sophomore from New Castle, Pa., thought about quitting the team on at least two occasions. Basketball was his first love. Redshirted in 2014 and playing special teams in 2015, Hooker had chosen football because it offered him a better chance for a professional career.
But his heart wasn’t in it.
When he wandered off, his mother Angela Dennis would find him walking across the bridge three minutes from their house in deep thought.
“I’d pull up alongside him and say, ‘Malik, get in this car, you’re going back,’ ” Dennis told the Big Ten Network earlier this year.
Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing 205 pounds, Hooker had been a basketball star who could jump out of the gym, helping New Castle High School to an 87-2 record. His teams went 27-1, 29-1 and 31-0 and won a state championship.
When asked how good he was at basketball, Dennis said after a season-opening victory over Bowling Green, “Out of a 10, he was a 12.”
One day Hooker called New Castle basketball coach Ralph Blundo and told him he wanted to leave OSU to play basketball at Pitt.
“I said, ‘Pitt doesn’t want you. They never called me and said they wanted you,’ ” Blundo, also the assistant principal, said by phone Tuesday. “Not that they wouldn’t have taken him.
“He definitely wanted to come home. He’d call and I’d say, ‘You start walking because I’m not coming to get you.’ His mom was on the same page. I could feel his mom starting to soften a bit. I said, ‘Ang, if you feel like you can’t tell him no, don’t answer the phone.’ ”
As Hooker wavered, Blundo stayed in touch with OSU defensive coordinator Luke Fickell. Blundo remained confident that Hooker would find his passion when he ran out in front of 110,000 people at Ohio Stadium, when his body started to change from the Buckeyes’ weight and nutrition programs, when his game improved.
Blundo was right. Hooker’s emergence this season was one of the reasons the No. 3 Buckeyes were selected for the College Football Playoff semifinals and will take on No. 2 Clemson in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Dec. 31 in Glendale, Ariz.
“I always had a dream of going out there and making big plays and scoring touchdowns, but I never ever thought it would be something like this,” Hooker said Tuesday after practice. “I’ve definitely found my passion. I found it back in the winter when I started seeing the gains from my body and how my footwork and the [work] I was putting in in the offseason paid off. That’s where my progression started to happen.
“It’s definitely a blessing. Not too many guys have had the opportunity I’ve had this season to go out there and make the plays I’ve made. It’s definitely a humbling experience.”
With his third interception returned for a touchdown in a double-overtime victory over Michigan on Nov. 26, Hooker set a program record, a mark he’d previously shared with Neal Colzie (1973). Hooker also broke the OSU career record in the same category, separating himself from a tie with Colzie and seven others, including Bradley Roby, Malcolm Jenkins, Andy Katzenmoyer and William White.
Hooker’s 16-yard score for the Buckeyes’ first touchdown against the Wolverines gave him six interceptions in 2016, three off the OSU single-season record.
Junior cornerback Gareon Conley of Massillon said Hooker’s latest pick six conjured up something co-defensive coordinator Greg Schiano tells the Buckeyes.
“Coach Schiano always says, ‘Good defenses create turnovers and great defenses score points,’ ” Conley said when asked about Hooker. “All the work he put in from last year to this year, he changed his whole mindset. He got what he wanted. He has more to prove right now and he’s going to prove it in this next game.”
Hooker started playing football around the fifth grade because his uncle coached the team, but gave it up in eighth grade when he hurt his shoulder. He didn’t return until his junior year, excelling as a receiver, running back and safety.
But when Fickell got a recruiting tip on Hooker from West Allegheny football coach Bob Palko, Fickell worried about Hooker’s mindset.
“I asked him, ‘Where do you see yourself in 10 years?’ ” Fickell told the Big Ten Network. “Until he started to change that mentality [to] ‘I love the game of football,’ I wasn’t sure. He was a basketball player first. That passion and love for football was something he had to find.”
Even after his first two collegiate interceptions Sept. 3 against Bowling Green, Dennis said, “He’s still a basketball player.”
But one of his plays against the Falcons, when Hooker dashed from midfield to the sideline, broke up a pass, tipped the ball to himself and caught it as he fell, set the stage for a historic season.
“Malik has enormous hands, extremely strong wrists,” Blundo said. “Those hands are like weapons. He’s a great rebounder, great shot blocker, and if there’s a loose ball, he’s getting it. When I see his ball skills and everything he’s doing, combined with the coaching I know he’s getting, this isn’t a surprise. Malik is one of the best athletes in the world, there’s no question.”
Hooker recently told the Columbus Dispatch he was returning next season, but he might rethink that before the Jan. 16 deadline for players to declare for the NFL Draft, especially if he’s considered a first-round pick.
“As of right now, I’m definitely coming back next year,” Hooker said Tuesday. “Maybe after the season, sit down and talk to my parents and see what goes on from there.”
Blundo said Hooker is the smartest player he’s ever coached and he knows he will make an educated decision about his future. Blundo pointed out that Hooker is only in his third full season on the field and has probably lost only 15 games in football and basketball dating back to elementary school.
“On top of athletically, he has all the intangible qualities you need to be great,” Blundo said. “Not that I want to speed up the process, but I just can’t wait to see him four years from now. I think we’ve only scratched the surface of how good he’s going to be.
“I don’t know what the future holds for Malik. But if we say, ‘Malik, come on home,’ we might have blown $20 or $30 million for that young man.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.