ROCKINGHAM — A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered during summer workouts kept Malik Stanback from playing an on-the-field role on this year’s Sandhills Athletic Conference winning Richmond Raider football team.
But despite the season-ending injury, the star senior wide receiver continued to build relationships with universities across the Carolinas as he morphed into the Raiders’ biggest cheerleader on Friday nights.
In early September, Stanback tweeted his verbal commitment to play Division I football at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. And on Wednesday, Dec. 19, he signed his National Letter of Intent to suit up for the Terriers, a program that stood by him and kept its word to honor its full-ride scholarship offer to the 6-1, 180-pound wideout.
Stanback signed his NLI at his home, surrounded by his mother, Penny McDonald, and Richmond head football coach Bryan Till.
“I’m just glad to be able to get back to playing the sport I love,” Stanback shared Wednesday. “My mom has worked so hard so she can give her best for me, and I just want to push myself hard and take advantage of this opportunity.
“It’s really exciting to know that they (Wofford) stuck with me through my injury,” he added. “I really appreciate that. Sitting out for a year has been really tough but being healthy now and getting to play in college has me really excited.”
Stanback was one of 19 future Wofford football players to ink their futures during the early-signing period, which expired on Friday, Dec. 21. This is just the second year that Division I football players have been allowed to sign their NLIs ahead of the regular signing period, which begins on Feb. 6.
“Wofford wanted Malik to originally sign in February,” Till explained. “They wanted to make sure he was progressing with his injury and rehab. We sent in videos of him doing running drills, and they decided he was healthy enough and wanted to sign him (during the early signing period).”
Till shared that Wofford’s wide receivers coach Freddie Brown came to visit Stanback the week prior to his signing to iron out the details. According to Till, Wofford’s coaching staff was “confident” in Stanback’s abilities based on where he was in his rehab regimen.
Malik Stanback hauls in the game-winning 86-yard touchdown pass of Richmond’s 25-19 win over Seventy-First High School on Oct. 27, 2017.
Of the 19 early signees, Stanback is one of four wide receivers set to join head coach Josh Conklin and the Terriers in the coming year. The other wide receiver commits are Calvin Jackson III (Chattanooga, Tenn./Red Bank), R.J. Khayo (Cincinnati, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) and KeiAndre Sanders (Birmingham, Ala./Shades Valley).
Six of the 19 recruits are signed from South Carolina, while three more from both Alabama and Georgia are lined up to play. Stanback is one of just two North Carolina recruits, as he’s joined by Keyvaun Cobb, a defensive back from Christ School in Arden, N.C.
To this point, Stanback is the only Raider football player to have signed or verbally committed to play college football from this year’s graduating class of 24 players.
Maintaining the trust of the Wofford coaching staff has only been half the battle for Stanback, as he has spent the past couple of months rehabbing his knee to get back into playing shape. Through the use of regular checkups with physicians in Charlotte, and the help of Richmond’s medical trainer Mitch Hadinger, Stanback has started running again and is slowly working his way back to top form.
“Rehab is going well,” Stanback shared. “Over the (holiday) break, I did some squats and am working on my legs to build up the muscles in my hamstrings and quads. I can run full speed and have another checkup coming up with my doctors.
“Coach Had is taking care of me like I’m one of his own,” he added. “I appreciate everything he’s doing for me to help me get better. I sent some videos of me doing running drills around cones and doing figure eights to show (Wofford) where I am in my rehab process.”
Till noted that Stanback has recently introduced change-of-direction drills into his rehab regimen, an indicator that he’s getting closer to being able to run full wide receiver routes.
Following his junior campaign just over a year ago, which he led the Raiders in receptions (34), reception yards (751), yards per reception amongst players with at least two catches (22.1) and yards per game (75.1), Stanback caught the eye of over a half a dozen schools along the east coast.
But it was Conklin and company who were the only ones who really stayed with him the whole way through his inactive season. And it’s something Stanback isn’t taking for granted.
“I’m happy to know that Wofford coaches believe I can help them,” Stanback said. “And I appreciate how they think I can help the team out even though I didn’t play this season. It means a lot to me that Wofford kept their offer.
“I’m most excited about being able to play football again,” he concluded. “I’ve talked to Coach Brown and he said that he’ll get me in touch with some of the other wide receivers so we can start working on building our bond.”
Stanback plans on majoring in engineering, and will report to campus soon after he graduates from Richmond in June. He will also join any future teammates who sign commitment letters at a formal signing ceremony in early February.
