More on "The Real Deal" Maalik Reynolds

By the sound and look of things, Maalik Reynolds is a can't-miss athlete. The soon-to-be Quaker is attempting to serve double duty for Penn Athletics as a high jumper on the track team and a forward on the basketball team. Sure, that's been done before, but what stands out about Reynolds is how athletic he truly is. Penn track coach Charlie Powell, who is entering his 22nd year as head coach so he's seen his share of athletes, emphasized to me during an interview Wednesday that the high school All-American is "the reeeeal deeeeal." Here are some quotes from Powell and Reynolds' high school basketball coach Tray Malloy, both of whom seemingly could have gone on forever about Maalik's athletic ability, that didn't make the final edition of the Summer Pennsylvanian. Believe me, we wish we could have written even more about this kid.

Penn men's track and field coach Charlie Powell:

On Reynolds' recruitment:

"I know quite a few high-powered schools were [after him]. Both he and his mom played things fairly close to the vest. We do know that one of the meets we were watching him at the coaches from Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, a few other top schools were very, very, very high on him ... But he chose a school that had great academics and a very very good athletic program. He wanted the whole package."

On two-sport athletes:

"We have a lot of guys that have played two sports. Most of the time it’s not basketball; it’s usually a fall sport like football. (Adam Chubb – school record holder for high jump/Heps champ, Henry Hipps "became one of the top multi-eventers and high-jumpers that we had”, David Whitehurst ran hurdles, Heps champ) … The pros: for the student athletes, it’s a heck of a lot of fun. The con part of that is the fact that you don’t get to train specifically for your event. But in basketball, he’s going to be doing a lot of jumping and a lot of conditioning. I’m sure coach Allen is not going to skimp on him. We just want him to do things where he’s happy. And to be very honest, he proved pretty much this summer by making the US National team and the world junior team that he’s got a great, great future in track and field. That’s really where his strengths lie."

"There’s this thing with basketball and Penn students that kind of cracks me up. I just hope that they don’t put too many expectations on him. And just let Maalik be Maalik. Because if they do, and the same thing with a lot of the younger guys – coach Allen is bringing in 7 or 8 very, very, very fine athletes and some great kids – and if they’ll just let these guys have the time to develop and breathe and not be in their face all the time and not have such high expectations, I think you’re gonna see some really great stuff from Jerome and the team. But these guys have to have some space to develop and they’re gonna make some mistakes and they’re gonna do some dumb things, but from the looks of it and chatting with him and his assistants, they’ve got some great kids coming in.

On Maalik's personality and potential:

"He’ll fit in real well. He’s got a real good sense of humor ... I think the fact that he’s got such a great personality – I think his head’s screwed on pretty straight – to be a two sport athlete here, I don’t think is gonna be a problem for him ... We’ve seen some things basketball-wise, we’ve seen some things track-wise. I’ll tell you, track-wise he’s the real deal. On the basketball side, there’s a lot of guys who are good basketball players, but there are very few guys in this country that can jump 7’2 in high school and have the capability of jumping 7’5, 7’6 or higher, and he does."

Westminster School (Ga.) basketball coach Tray Malloy:

On what Reynolds needs to improve:

"From his junior year to his senior year, we sat down with him and said, 'if you want to continue to develop as a complete player, here are the things you need to focus on.' We challenged him defensively and he ended up being one of the best defenders in the region his senior year, which was not the case his junior year ... He’s got to put some time into continuing to develop his perimeter game, his outside shooting and that midrange game. We know that he’s explosive, we know that he can get to the basket. At the level that he’s gonna play it, you have kids that certainly are going to be able to prevent him from getting to the rim as frequently as he did in high school, so he’s going to have to create some space by hitting some outside shots so kids will come out and play him and then being able to the make the decision, 'can I get to the rim or can I get the midrange jumper?'"

On whether Maalik is the type of kid that can pay his dues by riding the bench before earning playing time:

"Absolutely. I think he certainly is. But I also think he’s the type of kid that’s gonna look at that as a challenge. He’s certainly grown into understanding the concept of team basketball and being part of something larger than yourself, but he would not be content with that. Maalik’s the kind of kid that would say, ;I want to be out there on the floor and I feel like I can be and so what is it I need to do to be able to put myself in that position.'"

On how long it will take him to develop:

"I think by mid-season Maalik can be a contributing factor. I certainly do. He’s played AAU ball, but when you get to that collegiate level it is certainly even the next step. It’s putting it all together, it’s playing against kids your size, your speed, your ability. One area that Maalik is gonna have to grow over his course of playing at Penn is he’s going to have to continue to get stronger. He’s very wiry, he’s very lengthy, long. So I think as far as an immediate impact, I think he’s going to have to get adjusted to the culture, he’s going to have to get acclimated to the system there."

On whether training for two sports will hurt his performance:

"I don't [think so]. I think what we’re asking Maalik to do are not two entirely separate types of conditioning. Maalik’s improvements in his conditioning and strength from his junior to his senior year I think were very, very balanced. He came in stronger as a basketball player, more explosive as a high jumper. And I think those things are not two separate entities unto themselves. And when I say stronger, I don’t mean necessarily for Maalik to get bulkier. I just mean stronger, being able to use his frame, use his height and his size completely in the way that he needs to as far as basketball is concerned. And certainly getting stronger might mean putting on a little bit, but Maalik’s never going to be the type of kid that’s gonna completely bulk up, nor does he need to be."

On his fondest memories of Maalik:

"He’s hit a couple last second shots with the ball in his hand, wanting the ball. The maturity of deciding that he is the kind of player and stepping up in a leadership position and really commanding that. Probably the highlight that if you were to ask his peers, if you were to ask coaches that were there, in our tournament this past year, we were playing Baylor, a school up in Tennessee, another private school well known for basketball ... And Maalik transitioned dunked where he -- they call it 'posterizing'. A kid was down there trying to take a charge and he literally almost and basically he did elevate over the kid almost where his legs were spread going over his head and elevated and dunked over the kid and just erupted the place. To see him be the first one down the floor, the ball pitched up to him, it just kind of to me put everything together – his ability to run, his good hands, his ability to elevate and his ability to finish"