Monk was a star from day one

Malik Monk wowed crowds almost from the first time he laced up a pair of basketball shoes.

And he rarely disappointed.

As a freshman at East Poinsett County, he exploded onto the state's high school basketball radar by averaging 22.8 points and 5 rebounds per game and leading his team to the Class 2A state title game.

The numbers and his reputation only grew from there.

Longtime Van Buren basketball coach Randy Loyd did not mince words when asked where Monk ranked in on the order of best players he's seen in the state.

"The best I've ever seen," Loyd said in a Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story in 2016. "He's just somebody special that can do things to you that nobody else will ever do to you."

This coming from a coach who had both Matt Jones and Billy Pharis on his Pointers teams.

Monk transferred to Bentonville High for his final three seasons, a school whose enrollment was larger than Monk's hometown of Lepanto. That just gave him a bigger stage to show off a bigger game.

"He was so well-known as such a young age," said his high school coach Jason McMahan. "He loved being around these guys. He gave them a hard time, and they gave him a hard time. Bentonville was such a unique place, only one or two kids were actually from Bentonville. All of the players had moved in from different places, so I think that made it easier for him. He was able to adapt and make friends fast."

After Monk had another solid season as a sophomore for the Tigers, his national fame soared to elite status that summer as a member of the Arkansas Wings Elite summer team. He averaged 26 points per game as a junior at Bentonville, leading the Tigers to the state title game.

With every college program in the country in hot pursuit, Monk signed with the University of Kentucky during the early signing period of his senior season, choosing the Wildcats over the hometown Razorbacks. He then went out and put together his best high school season ever, averaging 28 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in leading the Tigers back to the championship game.

"What I remember most about Malik is he was just so explosive," said Fort Smith Northside coach Eric Burnett. "Out in transition, forget about it."

Brad Stamps, who coached at Springdale High and is now the head coach at Fayetteville, said Monk was able to do things no other player at that level could do.

"We just told our guys to wrap him up before he ever leaves the floor," Stamps laughed. "We told them if you don't, you're going to be on the front page of the paper tomorrow."

The Tigers came up short in the title game in his senior season, the third time he was denied a championship ring. In a 59-49 loss to Cabot, Monk did not play his best game, going 8-of-24 from the floor and scoring 19 points.

What gets lost in the title game disappointment was one of the best individual performances in state tournament history when Monk scored 23 second-half points to lead the Tigers to a 63-57 win against Van Buren in overtime.

Monk played just one season at Kentucky, but it was sensational. He scored a school freshman-record 47 points against North Carolina and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year. He declared for the NBA draft at the end of the season.

"This has been the toughest decision I have made in my life," Monk said in a statement after the. "With so many great coaches and historical programs recruiting me, it has really been a tough but fun process."

Monk was drafted in the first round by the Charlotte Hornets, the No. 11 overall selection. His pro career has been up and down with stints in the NBA G League. He averaged 10.3 points per game last season, but had made just one start in 191 NBA games.

In February, Monk was suspended without pay indefinitely after violating the NBA's drug policy. In the seven games prior to his suspension, he averaged 18 points per game. The suspension came just a few weeks before the NBA season was shut down amid the covid-19 pandemic.

"Obviously, we give him our full support," Hornets coach James Borrego said in an Associated Press story in February. "It's a situation that -- all of us face different things in life. It's how you respond. It's my belief, knowing Malik, that he will respond the right way, and he has my full support, he has our organization's full support. "

Monk declined to comment for this story.

Sports on 06/05/2020