Malik Story commits to IU for 2008-09

IU head coach Tom Crean may want to consider breaking a time-honored Hoosier tradition for this upcoming season and actually stitch the player names onto the backs of the IU jerseys.\nMalik Story, a 6-foot-5 wing from Los Angeles, is the latest player to commit to IU, providing Hoosier fans with an 11th new face on the 2008-09 roster to remember. The Hoosiers return all of 30 out of the 2,476 total points scored last season, in Kyle Taber (28) and Brett Finkelmeier (2).\nIt’s no question that the Hoosiers are in a rebuilding phase, which many experts say may take two or three years at least, but the newest member of the 2008-09 Hoosiers squad isn’t concerned.\n“I’m not worried about it at all,” said Story, a three-star recruit according to www.scout.com. “I think were going to surprise people. All of us are going to try and work hard and just play basketball. That’s what \nit is. Just because it’s a brand new team it doesn’t mean we can’t win.”\nStory, a graduate of Los Angeles’ Ribet Academy, has been in this situation before. While at Artesia High School for three years, Story’s teams won back-to-back state championships in 2006 and 2007 after being told they weren’t good enough. Now, the 200-lb. shooting guard looks to prove the doubters wrong again and use that as motivation at the collegiate level. \n“Yeah, that’s the thing I’m most excited about,” Story said. “I just hope everybody else is motivated and that we all just work hard. In the end, everybody puts their shoes on the same, so we’ve just got to go out there and play.”\nStory verbally committed to the University of Southern California as a sophomore in high school, but just last month decided it was no longer where he wanted to take his game. The 18-year-old said that USC had “too many problems” and he no longer saw himself fitting into the Trojans’ system. \n“I just want to get a fresh start and go somewhere outside of California because I’ve been here my whole life,” Story said. “I just want to go somewhere I know I can just expand my game.”\nStory attended the Indiana Elite Camp last week where he said there was a lot of interaction with Crean and the rest of the coaching staff. Story liked what he saw after seeing how Crean coaches and uses his offense through drills. After spending time with Crean on an unofficial visit after the camp, he knew where he wanted to play. He cancelled his upcoming visit to Georgetown, and committed to IU on Friday.\n“I liked how he was just down to earth,” Story said. “I can talk to him about even stuff outside of basketball, that’s what I liked the most.”\nAlthough he can play the small-forward position, Story calls himself a combo guard because of the changes he has made to his game. He’s best known as a shooter, but he said his strengths also include “passing the ball, seeing the floor, rebounding … and just being a good teammate.”\nThe former Oak Hill Academy player of three months says he has a lot improve on as well, however, and he will work hard with his trainer and play lots of basketball this summer before heading to Bloomington in August. He cited ball pressure, his off-the-dribble game, and even shooting as aspects of his game he aims to improve in order to take things “to the next level.”\n“I can get better at everything,” he said. “There’s nothing I’m perfect at.”\nStory said he “can’t wait” to get to IU, where he’d like to study business. \n“I’ve barely started summer, but I’m ready to go to school now.”