By RayJaun Stelly
The Seattle Medium
This year has been much different to Garfield’s Malia Samuels. The 5-foot-6 point senior guard for the defending state girls 3A basketball champions can be seen smiling as she walks into the gym with her teammates, listening to her pre-game music playlist, or engaging in pre-game conversations with teammates and coaches, but once it’s time to take the floor you notice she’s not warming up or in uniform, instead she’s fully clothed.
Samuels, who suffered an ACL and meniscus tear back in July, has not played in a game all year, but she hasn’t let that take away from enjoying the final season of her amazing career, and she is doing all that she can as a teammate, cheerleader and team leader to help her team in their quest to become back-to-back state champions.
Ranked as a four-star guard and 58th overall by ESPN.com, Samuels received offers from 21 different colleges and was evaluated as an “athletic floor-leader with poised back court game handles and distributes with flair in up-tempo game; a 1-on-1 creator that breaks down the defense, passes with precision in traffic; brings up-tempo delivery with court awareness, high basketball IQ; and a defensive disruptor; who is among the elite guard prospects in the class of 2023.”
Bursting on the scene in 2019 as a freshman at Eastside Catholic High School, Samuels was named the Metro League Player of the Year, and led team to the state tournament that year where they suffered their only loss of the year in the semifinals to Lake Washington.
Samuels would choose to opt-out of playing during the shortened COVID-19 2020-21 season, and focus on the remainder of her high school career.
As a junior during the 2021-22 season, Samuels transferred to Garfield, where she averages 16.5 points, 6.3 assists, 6.1 steals, and 3.4 rebounds per game, and was once again named the Metro League Player of the year. She would lead her team to the state girls 3A title, where she was named the state tournament MVP and All-State First-Team.
When asked about Malia’s evolution as a person and player, her father Shaun Samuels expressed, “proud is an understatement, there have been many ups and many downs. We preach hard work and resilience, so to see some of her labor is very encouraging. She represents her family, school, city, and state very well on a national level.”
“Those that have come before her have inspired her and she gets the opportunity to be an inspiration to younger girls who look like her,” he added. “I’m content because I have a front row seat for the show.”
Known both nationally and locally for all of her intangibles such as tireless defense, taking her opponent off the dribble to create for herself or teammates, and court vision, there was a lot of speculation about where Samuels would choose to go to school.
After taking an unofficial visit to the University of Southern California (USC) last July, Samuels would give the coaching staff her verbal commitment before taking to social media on August 5 to let every know that she had decided to attend USC.
When asked what led her to choosing USC, Samuels explained, “there was a lot of things that pushed me to choose USC, they recruited me sort of later than a lot of schools that I was considering but they were always persistent. One of the main reasons [I chose USC] was the head coach was pregnant and she flew all across the country to watch me play in Louisville. I got hurt the game before her flight landed and she still came to every game and sat in the front row.”
Some of the other deciding factors for Samuels was the addition of a new coach to the USC staff and the overall environment of the school and the program.
“After the assistant coach Beth Burns was hired, I knew I would fit in because she’s a defensive mastermind and I pride myself on defense,” said Samuels. “Lastly, when I stepped on campus for the first time it felt like home.”
Coming into her senior year, the only one thing hindering Samuels was the unfortunate injury she suffered in July.
Not knowing what it feels like to be sidelined, Samuels had come to tears once reality set in that she couldn’t play, but this didn’t stop her from being a great teammate.
“The first practice I watched after having surgery I broke down in front of my parents when I got home,” said Samuels. “But as the season continued, I started to become the best cheerleader I could.”
For someone who commands the court as much as Samuels, having to watch and cheer on her top-ranked Bulldogs has been a difficult transition, but Samuels credits her teammates with helping her to stay mentally and physically focused on healing and eventually getting back on the court.
“A lot of [my teammates] don’t know but they push me to work harder everyday with my rehab,” says Samuels. “I support them every day in practice and every single game because I know every one of them would do the same if they were in my position.”
Her father Shaun is extremely proud of the way his daughter has taken everything in stride, and believes that her recent setback is a blessing in disguise as she has thrived in her new role.
“It’s been tough because she was having a very strong summer just prior to her injury, there’s no doubt she would have been on a mission this high school season,” says Shaun. “But I’ve seen enough over the years, this is only a chapter in her evolving story.”
“Watching her navigate this adversity gives my wife and I the confidence that she will have the tools needed for life beyond high school,” he added.
Although her senior season isn’t going how she envisioned it, Samuels has maintained a positive mind frame throughout this year.
“I would describe my senior year as a rollercoaster, there’s highs and lows every day,” said Samuels. “It’s definitely not how I expected it to be but I know everything happens for a reason, so I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
