UCI star takes unique path

As unorthodox as she is unstoppable, Mikah Maly-Karros is more a basketball savant than a student of the game. Blending artistic intuition with her passion to compete, the UC Irvine sophomore often finds the shortest direct route between aspiration and achievement.

That she covers that distance in ways that might sometimes make coaches and basketball purists cringe, concerns her little.

Yet though her offensive execution often results in floor burns and bruises, and she is more apt to wind up on a highlight reel than an instructional video, the prolific 6-foot-1 forward’s road to collegiate stardom has ultimately been about balance.

A first-team All-Big West Conference performer, she is averaging 19.6 points and 11.2 rebounds heading into the Anteaters’ Big West Conference Tournament first-round game against Cal State Fullerton, today at 2:15 p.m. at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Her conference-best 13 double-doubles include a 35-point, 17-rebound performance at Pacific and a 34-point, 15-rebound effort at UC Davis. She has also broken the UCI single-season record with 138 made free throws.

A four-year phenom at Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach, Maly-Karros broke Lisa Leslie’s then-CIF Southern Section career rebounding record, and also led the Mustangs from obscurity to the CIF state title game her junior season.

Nearby Loyola Marymount won the recruiting battle for her services, but it never won her devotion.

“I expected that when I got to LMU, I was going to be a big player in the program and things would revolve around me,” said Maly-Karros, who instead discovered an unexpected burden to participate in preseason conditioning and weight training. “When that didn’t happen, It was a wake-up call. It was definitely on me. I was just really immature.”

Maly-Karros quickly found herself in the doghouse, and the end of the bench. Barely a month into the 2008-09 season, she realized she needed a fresh start.

That’s when her club coach, Vanguard University head man Russ Davis, suggested that UCI, desperately in need of players under then first-year coach Molly Goodenbour, might provide a soft landing.

Goodenbour, who hadn’t seen Maly-Karros play, did some quick homework and decided to take a chance.

“At that point, we were looking for players and I knew she could rebound the heck out of the ball,” said Goodenbour, who was not unaware of the reputation for being difficult that also had been attached to Maly-Karros.

“I knew she was a good player who was a little rough around the edges,” Goodenbour said. “She needed some discipline and some structure, in her game and in her life.

“I think there were people who expected her to completely melt down and ruin the program, or not make it or whatever,” Goodenbour said. “But she loves basketball and she wants to be good. I think she is enjoying her experience and she has kind of bought in now and wants to do what she needs to do to make it work for her here.

“She’s just been real consistent and I’m very excited to have her for two more years. I enjoy coaching Mikah and I don’t have any problem with her. I’d take a team full of Mikahs.”

Any game played by such a team would be, well, interesting to watch.

“She’s crazily unorthodox,” Goodenbour said. “But she finds ways to make baskets and get rebounds. Her footwork is not great and her balance is awful and she goes too fast, sometimes. And then she makes [her shot] and you just shake your head.

“Her competitiveness really carries her. You see some of the moves she makes and it’s not anything we or any other coaches have taught her. It’s just that she wants the ball to go in the basket, or she wants to get the rebound. I love that about her; she’s very passionate.

“I just don’t think anybody has ever really worked with her. All the things that she is doing kind of come natural to her. She’s so competitive on the court that she just plays a little bit harder than the people around her and, athletically, she’s been able to go and get the ball and make some baskets.”

Maly-Karros, whose stepfather, Eric Karros, played 14 seasons of Major League Baseball and was the 1992 National League Rookie of the Year with the Dodgers, is also coping with attention deficit disorder, which affects her ability to focus for long periods of time.

“It’s really hard, academically, because this is such a good school,” Maly-Karros said. “And I can’t take my medication during the season, because I lose weight. I’d probably drop 20 pounds.”

Maly-Karros said she loves playing for Goodenbour and is eager to be part of what many believe will be a huge turnaround in the program that is 9-20 entering today.

“I know that we’re on the verge of something good,” Maly Karros said.

“We just want to make sure that we keep moving forward and we’re not taking steps back.”