HICKORY, N.C. — Malik Hamrick's basketball journey is one of both pain and perseverance.

The 6-0 guard for the Catawba Valley Community College basketball team has endured and overcome several medical setbacks as he enters the final stages of his Red Hawk athletic career.

Hamrick started his collegiate career at Johnson C. Smith after a stellar prep career at East Rutherford High School. During practice one day, Hamrick blacked out and collapsed on the court, cautioning him to visit a heart specialist.

"When I woke up, I asked everyone what was going on, and they told me I blacked out," Hamrick said. "I had to get evaluated. I thought I was going to come back in one or two weeks."

After he and his parents met with a doctor, Hamrick found out he had Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy  — a condition affecting the main pumping chamber of the heart — and that his basketball future was in doubt.

"The doctor said I was never going to play basketball again," Hamrick said. "I thought it was a joke. My mom was crying. My dad was crying. It just didn't make sense to me."

After sitting out the rest of his freshman year at JSCU, Hamrick spent the next year working with a number of doctors and taking numerous tests to get his heart cleared to compete. However, he ultimately decided to leave the JCSU basketball program.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared at that point because the doctors still hadn't told me what was wrong with me and why I was blacking out," Hamrick said. "It was hard for me to push myself. I felt like I just needed time. It became mental at that point. I was at the lowest I've ever been in my life. I felt like everything I'd worked for in my whole life and everything I ever wanted was gone. It had been taken away from me, and I wasn't getting it back."

Hamrick moved back to Atlanta, Ga. where his family is from. He worked a few different jobs, including at Clorox. It was during that time that he had a premonition about how he was feeling physically.

"I just got to thinking that I'm pushing myself in this regular job and working overtime. This is the same thing as basketball," he said. "I had the same commitment and hours in that job that I had in basketball, and I'm feeling fine."

After asking for some advice from his former high school coaches, Hamrick reached out to CVCC men's basketball coach Shawn Johnson to see about the opportunity to join the program.

"I had (CVCC's) number saved from high school," Hamrick said. "When I called them, they were excited. I got that fire again in my heart. Someone still wanted me, and I can actually still do this."

After getting medically cleared to compete, Hamrick played in six games with CVCC during the 2020-21 season, but his time on the court would once again be cut short.

"I'm in my room, and I blacked out again," he said. "I don't wake up for hours. I just realized it happened again."

Hamrick called his mother and immediately went to visit his heart doctor again.

"I just heard those words again — 'you won't be able to play basketball ever again.' The depression that I feel like I had just gotten over was happening again," he said.

For the next year and a half, Hamrick went through numerous tests on his chest to get cleared to compete — from treadmill tests to tilt tests to stress tests.

"The doctors still couldn't find anything," he said. "At this point, I had to trust in God. I felt like God was telling me to continue to play. He hadn't taken the ability away from me physically."

After talking to his mother about returning to CVCC, Hamrick reached out to Johnson for his third chance at collegiate basketball.

He's since learned a lot about balance.

He's also learned to become a leader at 27 years old — something he takes a lot of pride in.

"My goal is for the guys that are around me to understand that the basketball is going to stop bouncing eventually," he said. "You're going to hear words like I had to hear — 'you can't play basketball anymore.' The fact that they haven't heard those words and are still here, they need to give 100 percent every day. If all I had to do was focus on basketball, I would trade shoes with them. I don't use it as an excuse either."

Outside of the court, Hamrick has worked even harder in his personal life. He's been employed for the past four years at LeeBoy in Lincolnton — a manufacturer of commercial asphalt pavers and road maintenance equipment. At LeeBoy, he's worked his way up to supervisor — a role he's held for a year.

CVCC head men's basketball coach Shawn Johnson said Hamrick's impact on his program and players has been invaluable.

"He's been through a lot, but nothing breaks him down," Johnson said. "He is very mature. He has a different perspective on life than most younger kids that we bring in because he has been through so much. He also brings perseverance. The glass is never half empty. It's always half full for him. He is always looking at the bright side. That's the thing that a lot of our kids are getting from him. We're glad that he's still here and rubbing off on the guys in the right way."

Hamrick's standout performance of the season came on Feb. 1 against Louisburg where he scored 17 points, including a 3-pointer with 29.4 seconds left to lift the Red Hawks to a 84-82 victory.

It was a game that renewed Hamrick's confidence in his skills.

"There's still a reason why I'm doing this," he said. "I am still able to be that guy, go hard and give my all. I don't see anything, but winning. At that point, I have to do whatever it takes — whether it's jumping on the floor, guarding the best player or taking the toughest shot. At that point, I am so locked in. We are going to win by any means necessary, and I'm going to show them how to do it."

Hamrick's performance against the Hurricanes gave Johnson flashbacks to the basketball player he recruited out of high school.

"I wasn't surprised one bit," Johnson said. "I don't think his teammates were really surprised either. He does it in practice some days. There's nothing you can do as an opponent, but hope that he misses. He came on at the right time. I was happy he was on our team."

As for what his future holds, Hamrick hopes to continue to play the game he loves after his time at CVCC, but he's keeping his options open for both his basketball and personal lives.

"I have some of my former high school coaches who want me to come coach under them and take the head coaching job one day, and coach Johnson wants me to come help him here at CVCC," Hamrick said. "I honestly don't feel like I'm done playing, though. I want to continue playing. I really do. I want to commit even more time to this. If I'm able to get a scholarship, I am going to give 100 percent again to basketball. I want to do the thing I love until I can't anymore. I feel great right now. I feel like I could do this every day. I work hard enough to deserve it. If the opportunity comes, I am definitely going to keep playing at a four-year university."

Johnson said a few four-year programs have inquired about Hamrick, but the ball is ultimately in his court.

"If something comes along that Malik thinks is beneficial, he'll do it. If he doesn't, he'll just say no," Johnson said. "That's just who he is. We've definitely had some schools ask about him. We'll see how it goes. I wouldn't place at bet either way. That's how at peace he is with what he has going on in his life, which is a great thing."