[Losing your mother is] not something you can get over, and Malik hasn’t tried to. Instead, he’s focused on living his life in a way that honors his mom.
One of those ways is through education. With Guerrero’s background, academics was always important in the McMorris household. So when Malik had an opportunity to come to Cal, he took advantage of it.
Coming out of high school, McMorris had scholarship offers in both football and track. However, Cal was the only school that would allow him to do both while offering him the opportunity to study at the No.