Mountaineers’ Jefferson a rarity in tenure, playing style
During a recent Mount St. Mary’s men’s basketball practice, coach Dan Engelstad directed the guards to one area of the court and the “bigs” with him to another area.
Six-foot-9, 210-pound sophomore Jedy Cordilia gently objected to the label, asking Engelstad to call them forwards. That’s when 6-9, 230-pound graduate student Malik Jefferson intervened.
“I want to be a big, not a forward,” Jefferson said. “… I’m big, I’m a wall. We’re bigs. I like that.”
Jefferson has been a larger-than-life presence for the Mountaineers (3-3) so far. He leads the team in rebounds per game at 7.9 and ranks second in blocks at 1.0 and third in points at 10.1.
Saturday afternoon’s 75-59 loss at Navy at Alumni Hall in Annapolis was a tough one for Jefferson. Foul trouble limited him to two points on 1-of-5 shooting, and he had more turnovers (one) than rebounds (zero). It marked only the third time in his career that he finished with no rebounds.
Jefferson is one point shy of becoming the 49th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Already the program’s all-time leading rebounder since it moved to NCAA Division I in 1988 (808 rebounds), he also became the career leader in double-doubles (16), passing Michael Watson’s record of 15 from 1991 to 1995.
Still, Jefferson “has been everything” to Mount St. Mary’s, according to Engelstad whose coaching tenure there began when Jefferson was a freshman.
“When you start a program, you want building blocks, and to have a guy like Malik, what a blessing for me as a coach to have a guy that is that stable and that sturdy and that loyal to your program,” Engelstad said. “We put him with all of our recruits when they come, and he talks to these families, and he’s so impressive. So for us, it’s meant so much to have him be the backbone of this program. When you’re built tough, you’ve got a chance every night, and Malik is built tough.”
Jefferson’s foray in basketball might have seemed destined from a young age. He said he began to notice a size difference between himself and his classmates in the third grade. By the time he was in middle school, he was already 5-foot-11.
His father Tory is 6-6 and played at Rhode Island and Canisius. His twin brother Jalen is 6-7 and played three seasons with Malik and the Mountaineers until graduating early and enrolling at dental school. Their older sister Daijah is 6-2 and played at Georgia Tech and George Mason.
“I think I knew all along,” he said of following his father’s and sister’s paths. “My dad was kind of wanting us to play, and we were working out and stuff. So it was kind of natural.”
Jefferson initially agreed to go to UMES, but then decommitted after a coaching change. He considered UMass Lowell and VMI before committing to Mount St. Mary’s and then-coach Jamion Christian.
But after the 2017-18 season, Christian left for Siena. Jefferson acknowledged that he could have re-opened his options, but was swayed after a conversation with Engelstad, who had been an assistant for the Mountaineers under former coach Milan Brown from 2007 to 2010.
“Dan was pretty clear about how he wanted me to stay and how there wasn’t going to be a drop-off,” Jefferson said. “So I really just trusted Dan and the coaching staff, and I knew some people that were left over. So I felt comfortable.”
Before he graduated in May with a bachelor’s in accounting, Jefferson informed Engelstad that he planned to return to school to pursue an MBA with a focus in management and use an extra year of eligibility afforded to him by the coronavirus pandemic. In this era of transfer portals, Jefferson is the rare player who has spent
his entire career in one place.
“We’re so thankful that he did come back for his fifth year because he’s playing at an extremely high clip right now.,” Engelstad said. “… He’s been a champion. He’s gone through the ups and the downs, and when it’s all said and done, Malik is going to have one of those decorated careers where he’s going to go down as one of the best players in our history.”
Jefferson has shunned another popular trend: the stretch four. While many of his peers launch 3-pointers in an attempt to channel their inner Stephen Currys, Jefferson has remained true to his roots as a traditional, back-to-the-basket post player.
“At this point in my career, I know what I can do and what I can’t do,” said Jefferson, who has taken only one 3-pointer at Mount St. Mary’s. “I don’t think I’m helping my team if I’m out there trying to do too much. I just try to play my role and do what it is that I can do.”
Graduate student shooting guard Deandre Thomas has known Jefferson since their AAU playing days on Team Richmond
Garner Road. He said Jefferson has the potential to develop his long-range accuracy but is comfortable refining mid-range jumpers modeled after those by Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam.
“He works on it and stuff, but he just knows what gets it done, how our offense is,” he said. “He’s good with his Siakam shots and stuff like that.”
As thrilled as he is by his start this season, Jefferson said his top objective is returning to the NCAA tournament as he and the team did in 2021. He laughed when asked about aiming for a second appearance while others are still seeking their first trip to the postseason.
“I’m going to be greedy with that one,” he said. “I want it all to myself. … If we can do that, I can be satisfied with my career.”
At the beginning of the year, Engelstad met with season ticket holders to give them a glimpse of the team and schedule. When he began to discuss Jefferson, he admitted getting emotional.
“To see it come full circle where he is now the savvy vet means a lot to me,” Engelstad said. “He’s the type of guy that you hope your kids can grow up like because he’s disciplined and he’s going to have a lot of success in everything that he does in this world.”