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The Sports Xchange

OVERVIEW

Hairston was part of a rarity in college basketball, as he was one of five senior starters on the team, with that group all graduating this past winter. Having overcome a myriad of injury problems during his junior year, he went on to lead the team in scoring during his final campaign.

The All-Pac 10 Conference choice went on to rank sixth on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,644 points. He became just the 10th player in Oregon annals to reach 1,000 points by his junior campaign. He also ranks tenth in OU history in three-point field goal percentage (.395) and 12th in three-point field goals made (145).

At Renaissance High School, Hairston was rated one of the top 10 prep players in the country by virtually every recruiting service. The Parade and McDonald's All-American selection was regarded as the best shooting guard in the nation by Rivals.com and The Insiders ranked him the fourth-best small forward. He also garnered first-team All-State, All-Metro and All-City honors from both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press.

Hairston finished third in Michigan's Hal Graham Mr. Basketball voting as a senior. He was also an All-Academic choice. He averaged 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists per game that season, leading his team to a 27-0 record, the Class B state title and a third place national ranking by USA Today.

In the state championship game, Hairston scored 17 points with four rebounds and five blocks as Renaissance defeated DeWitt 61-42. As a junior, he averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals, as Renaissance won the first of two straight city championships. For his career, he averaged 18.7 points, 12.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

Hairston played in the 2004 McDonald's All-America game, where he scored 11 points with three rebounds and three assists. He was also a member of the Jordan Capital Classic and on the USA Hoop Summit Team that defeated the World Team 99-79. After graduation, he enrolled at Oregon, becoming the highest profile signee at the university since Greg Ballard and Ron Lee in the 1970s.

In 2004-05, Hairston was named to the Pac-10 Conference's All-Freshman team. He was one of two first-year players to start all 27 games for Oregon. He ranked second on the squad in scoring at 13.1 points per game (15th in the Pac-10), rebounding (5.0 rpg, 19th in the league) and assists at nearly 2.0 per game. He had a great season shooting from the floor (50.9 percent, 145-of-285), leading the team in scoring seven times, in rebounding seven times and three times in assists.

As a sophomore, Hairston was Oregon's leading scorer at 15.0 points per game, earning All-Pac-10 Conference honorable mention selection. The NABC All-District XIV second-team pick was named his team's MVP. He ranked second on the squad with 4.7 rebounds per game and was eighth in the Pac-10 in scoring. He was also the Ducks' top three-point shooter, hitting 37.9 percent (10th in the league). He led the team in scoring 11 times and was the top rebounder six times, as he reached double figures 27 times, hitting 20 points in nine games.

Hairston was limited to 27 games in 2006-07, missing the first five contests with a groin pull and was then limited in December and January by a soft tissue tear in his left heel, missing five more games. He averaged a career-low 11.3 points per game, adding 57 assists while averaging 6.0 rebounds per game while shooting .523 from the field.

In his final season, Hairston received All-Pac 10 honorable mention and NABC All-District XIV second-team honors. He started all 31 games, leading the team in scoring with 16.3 points per game. He scored in double figures 25 times, including 11 performances of at least 20 points. He averaged 4.8 rebounds, shooting .525 from the floor and .732 from the free throw line.

ANALYSIS

Positives: Has shed some excess bulk as a senior and it is noticeable by his improved quickness and stamina on the court ... Played mostly on the wing in college, but is built more in the lines of a two-guard, as he shows the range and shooting stroke to connect when on the perimeter ... Has very good standing reach (8'7.5") and vertical leaping ability (38-inches), along with a good wingspan (81-inches) that he combines with strength to consistently battle for the defensive rebound (averaged 5.1 boards per game) ... Shows very good power to absorb and draw contact when he drives to the basket, demonstrating fine touch finishing at the rim, as he creates good mismatches vs. slower forwards with his explosive initial step into the lane ... Possesses good court vision and a high basketball IQ ... Type of athlete who will play through pain, evident by his team-first performance while battling through injuries during his junior year ... That team-first attitude is also evident by his decent assist figures, as he is smart enough to know not to force his shot and uses his court vision well to locate an open teammate who might have a better chance of making the shot, rather than try to force the issue when defenses rotate ... Good court leader who might not handle the ball often, but can control the game's tempo when he puts it on the floor, especially when operating in half court sets ... When he is in control of the sphere, he is very good executing the one-bounce passes coming off the dribble ... Has a nice array of pivot/spin moves, to go with crafty head and shoulder fakes that he uses to bait the defender before taking a good angle to separate and attack the basket ... Has nice change of direction agility coming off screens, where he is very quick at getting his shot up ... Has the balance, body control and lateral agility to make sharp cuts to the basket and is very effective moving without the ball in his hands, knowing how to get his body wide for catch-and-shoot situations ... Uses his lateral range and keeps his hands very active when trying to defend vs. perimeter shooters ... Also knows how to use his size to disrupt the forward progress of smaller guards bringing the ball up the court ... Shows very good leg lift and elevation going to the basket and can hang in the air for a long time ... Better shooting his jumper, especially when he sets his feet, than he is when trying to create his shot coming off the dribble ... Plays with good aggression when posting up inside and is very determined around the offensive glass, showing decent second jump ability going for the put-backs ... Has good leg drive powering his way to the rim and is very conscious of ball security, using a tight, low dribble and framing the ball well with his body when weaving through traffic ... Has a quick wrist flick releasing on his jumper, but it would be even more efficient once he sets his feet to elevate higher ... Uses his wingspan, length and strength well to face up to the shooter, using good timing and balance to be disruptive in the passing lanes ... Has confidence in his ability to shoot from beyond the arc, as his three-point success rate has improved in each of his four seasons (from .333 as a fresh-man to .433 as a senior, finishing with a career percentage of .395) ... Needs to work on setting his feet better, but when he does, he gets into a good rhythm executing his long range shot.

Negatives: Too small to play forward in the NBA, spending the last two months shedding more than 20 pounds to increase stamina and provide him with better quickness for a possible shift to shooting guard at the next level ... The added weight during his senior year seemed to have resulted in a loss of explosion on his drives to the rim ... Has a tight dribble when he puts the ball on the floor, but is not always alert to the defensive rotation and must do a better job of dishing the ball out vs. double teams, as he sometimes gets caught in the trap ... Has a business man's approach, rarely showing much emotion on the court (some perceive this as possible coasting) ... Will disappear for stretches on the court, leading to questions about his desire for the game ... Seems very erratic creating a shot coming off the dribble and is much more comfortable executing a jumper than taking his man off the ball ... The problem with his jumper is, he does not always set his feet or elevate high enough, leading to more than a fair share of his attempts being blocked ... Has the strength to create mismatches vs. smaller opponents, yet he continues to play with more finesse than aggression on team defense (needs to face up to the shooter more often and not rely on his lateral agility to get him in front of his man) ... Has good basketball IQ, but still is prone to biting on a shooter's hesitation moves or pump fakes ... Gets a bit reckless driving to the rim and needs to be more alert to the defense closing on him (despite his strength, he struggles to finish when a bigger forward rotates out on him before he gets to the rim).

Compares To: DESHAWN STEVENSON-Washington ... Having shed more than 20 pounds in recent months, Hairston looks the part of being a two-guard, but still needs reps to get comfortable in that role. He has very good strength to create mismatches vs. smaller opponents, but you wonder if he will have the foot speed to cover faster perimeter shooters, as he was just adequate doing that vs. slower wing players in college. He has good mid-range shooting ability, but needs to be more consistent setting his feet and must get better elevation on those attempts. He plays with little emotion, causing some to question his passion, but he is a team-first player who might get too unselfish with the ball at times.

CAREER NOTES

Scored 1,644 points, tying Stan Love (1968-71) and Fred Jones (1998-2002) for sixth on the school's career record list ... Became the 10th junior in school history to amass more than 1,000 points in a career ... Made 612-of-1,214 field goals (50.4 percent), as his 612 two-pointers rank seventh in school annals ... Added 275-of-428 free throws (64.3 percent) and 145-of-367 three-pointers, as his three-point percentage of .395 rank 10th and his 145 treys rank 12th in Oregon history ... Collected 598 rebounds (5.1 rpg), with 238 coming off the offensive glass ... Registered 244 assists (2.1 apg), 71 blocked shots (0.6 bpg) and 67 steals (0.6 spg).

2007-08 SEASON

All-Pac 10 Conference honorable mention, adding All-District XIV second-team honors from NABC ... Started all 31 games, leading the team in scoring with a career-high 505 points (16.3 ppg), as he made 176-of-335 field goals (52.5 percent), 52-of-120 three pointers (43.3 percent) and 101-of-138 free throws (64.3 percent), ranking ninth in the league in scoring and fifth in three-point field goal percentage ... Pulled down 150 rebounds (4.8 rpg), as he handed out 66 assists, had 19 steals and blocked 26 shots while turning the ball over 55 times ... Led Oregon in scoring 12 times, in rebounds six times and in assists eight times.

2007-08 GAME ANALYSIS

Had a team-high 22 points and seven rebounds in the NCAA Tournament game vs. Mississippi State ... Netted 20 points with seven boards in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinal game vs. Washington State ... Led the team with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, adding five rebounds vs. Arizona State ... Had a season-high 10 rebounds with five assists and eight points vs. Oregon State (2/02) ... Poured in 20 points with six boards vs. Pacific and tallied 29 points on 9-of-11 field goals while dishing out three assists and blocking four shots vs. Western Michigan ... Followed with his third straight 20-point game, coming up with 24 points (4-of-6 treys) vs. Portland ... Flipped in 25 points, making all five three-point tries, as he also had three rebounds vs. Nebraska ... Hit on 9-of-11 field goals for 24 points vs. Mount St. Mary's and collected 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting that included a trio of three-pointers and six boards vs. Arizona ... In his next game, Hairston tallied 20 points and four assists vs. California and scored 20 points with three assists vs. Washington ... Added 18 points in 25 minutes before missing the second half of the UCLA game (1/24) with leg cramps ... Bounced back to register 21 points (4-of-6 treys) vs. Southern California.

2006-07 SEASON

Named to the NCAA All-Midwest Regional Team ... Battled through myriad injuries to appear in 27 games, starting 25 ... Missed the first five games of the season recovering from a groin pull, then missed five more contests in December and January due to an unusual soft tissue tear in his left heel ... Despite not being 100 percent healthy for any part of the season, he averaged 11.3 points per game (305 points, fourth on the team) and was Oregon's second-leading rebounder at 6.0 per game (162 total) ... Also shot .523 from the field (116-of-222) to lead the team, making 23-of-54 three-pointers (42.6 percent) and 50-of-82 free throws (61.0 percent) ... Had 57 assists, 18 steals, 16 blocked shots and 49 turnovers ... Led the team in rebounding seven times.

2006-07 GAME ANALYSIS

His first game of the season was Oregon's upset win at Georgetown where he came off the bench to score eight points with six rebounds ... Started to look like the player he was at the end of his sophomore season with 20 points vs. Eastern Washington and 21 points and a career-best 12 rebounds vs. Idaho State ... Suffered a heel injury in practice after that game, but returned to play a major role in UO's first-ever sweep in Arizona, as he scored 13 points with eight rebounds at Arizona State and then had 18 points and another eight rebounds in upset of Arizona in Tucson ... Had 19 points in a home win vs. California and grabbed 10 rebounds to go with nine points in Pac-10 tournament quarterfinal win over Arizona ... Scored a season-high 22 points in Pac-10 semifinals vs. California ... In the NCAA Tournament, he tallied 13 points and grabbed six boards in the second-round win vs. Winthrop ... His second double-double of the season came in a Sweet 16 win vs. Nevada-Las Vegas with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The 11 rebounds was an Oregon record for an NCAA Tournament game ... Had a strong finish to the year with 18 points in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final vs. Florida.

2005-06 SEASON

All-Pac 10 Conference honorable mention ... Started all 32 games, leading the Ducks in scoring with 479 points (15.0 ppg), as he hit on 47.0 percent of his field goals (175-of-372), 37.9 percent of his three pointers (47-of-124) and 68.9 percent of his free throws (82-of-119) ... Registered 151 rebounds (4.7 rpg) with 69 assists, 70 turnovers, 15 steals and 20 blocked shots ... Was the team's leading scorer 11 times and top rebounder six times ... Reached double figures 27 times, hitting 20 points in nine games.

2004-05 SEASON

Named to the Pac-10 Conference's All-Freshman team ... One of two freshmen to start all 27 games for Oregon ... Ranked second on the squad in scoring at 13.1 points per game (15th in the Pac-10, 355 total), rebounding (5.0 rpg, 135 total, 19th in the league) and assists at nearly 2.0 per game (52) ... .Had a great season shooting from the floor (50.9 percent, 145-of-285), making 23-of-69 three pointers (33.3 percent) and 42-of-89 free throws (47.2 percent) ... Led the team in scoring seven times, in rebounding seven times and three times in assists.

INJURY REPORT

2005-06 Season: Missed the 12/27 Portland State game with a sprained big toe.

2006-07 Season: Missed the first five games of the season recovering from a groin pull ... Sat out five more games in December and January due to an unusual soft tissue tear in his left heel that he suffered in a 12/18 practice.

2007-08 Season: Missed most of the second half of the UCLA game (1/24) with leg cramps.

SUMMER BASKETBALL

Played in the 2004 McDonald's All-America game, where he scored 11 points with three rebounds and three assists ... Competed in the Jordan Capital Classic and on the USA Hoop Summit Team that defeated the World Team 99-79.

HIGH SCHOOL

Attended Renaissance (Detroit, Mich.) High School, playing basketball for head coach Mark White ... Rated one of the top 10 prep players in the country by virtually every recruiting service ... Parade and McDonald's All-American selection ... Regarded as the best shooting guard in the nation by Rivals.com and The Insiders ranked him the fourth-best small forward ... Garnered first-team All-State, All-Metro and All-City honors from both the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press ... Was third in Michigan's Hal Graham Mr. Basketball voting as a senior ... All-Academic choice ... Averaged 20 points, 11 rebounds and six assists per game that season, leading his team to a 27-0 record, the Class B state title and a third place national ranking by USA Today ... In the state championship game, Hairston scored 17 points with four rebounds and five blocks as Renaissance defeated DeWitt 61-42 ... As a junior, he averaged 22 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals, as Renaissance won the first of two consecutive city championships ... For his career, he averaged 18.7 points, 12.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.7 steals per game.

PERSONAL

Graduated in the summer of 2007 with a degree in Political Science ... When he enrolled at Oregon, Hairston became the highest profile signee at the university since Greg Ballard and Ron Lee in the 1970s ... Son of Elizabeth and Richard Hairston ... Father played basketball at Morris Brown College ... Born Malik Samory Hairston on 2/23/87 in Detroit, Michigan.