Malick Meiga Discusses Unique Journey to Penn State

The sport that Malick Meiga first fell in love with as a kid isn’t the one Penn State fans think of when they hear the word “football.” There weren’t any gridirons in Ivory Coast, where Meiga was born and lived for six years, but there were soccer pitches, and that’s where the incoming wide receiver spent a lot of his time growing up.

Meiga continued to play soccer as a defender and striker when he moved to Italy with his mother and brother, and then Canada after that. In fact, it wasn’t until middle school that the now 6-foot-4 wideout traded in his shin guards for shoulder pads.

“I played soccer my whole life – that was my first love,” Meiga said. “Then I did a football camp during one summer called All Out Camp, and I got coaches who wanted me to play. I’m a pretty fast guy, so they were hype about me. I played [in middle school] and then went to high school to continue to play football.”

Meiga flew somewhat under the radar for most of his high school career, but he continued to learn the game and he also matured off the field. When he was a teenager, Meiga’s mother left Canada to move back to Ivory Coast and eventually France, leaving Meiga and his older brother, Ben, to live with a friend of hers. Eventually the brothers moved to Montreal, where they lived alone during Malick’s high school years.

Prior to even enrolling in college, Meiga had lived on three continents, spoke French, Italian, Spanish and English and had been independent for a few years.

“Living with your brother alone, that’s pretty good preparation for college,” Meiga said. “You don’t have a lot of the help that you can have when you live with your parents. … You have to do stuff by yourself, so I think I have an advantage when it comes to that part.”

His winding journey to playing Division I college football in the United States took a sharp turn toward Penn State when he burst onto the scene at The Opening in Ohio in March 2019. His 4.53-second 40-yard dash, 4.28-second shuttle and 36-inch vertical jump turned heads – enough, in fact, to go from only one offer to 10 by the end of April.

At another camp in early May, he managed to improve on those already impressive measurables, and within a week, five more schools – including Penn State – offered him. Meiga said that all the sudden attention motivated him to improve even further and that he knew from the time he began playing the sport that he wanted to play NCAA football.

“Growing up in the Ivory Coast, Italy, Canada, you see college life in the USA, you’re trying to live that,” Meiga said. “I mean, I’m pretty hype about that, but mainly, I’m hype about football.”

Meiga visited Happy Valley in June 2019 and again a month later for the Lasch Bash, five days after which he officially committed to the Nittany Lions. He’ll be another example of Penn State’s strong recruiting among prospects who played their prep ball in Canada, as he’ll join Jesse Luketa, Jonathan Sutherland and Theo Johnson, in addition to fellow French-speaker Christian Veilleux, a member of the Class of 2021.

“We’ve got to create that pipeline,” Meiga said. “Every good Canadian athlete has got to come to Penn State. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Aside from the twisting and turning path that brought him to Penn State, Meiga is also unique in that he enrolled at the university as a 19-year-old but retains five years of eligibility – another aspect that Meiga believes is an advantage for him.

Meiga, whose nickname, “MeigaTron,” is an homage to Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, has the speed and physicality to stand out at the next level. He’s listed at 195 pounds but will likely add some muscle at Penn State – but not too much to take away from his speed, which Meiga believes to be his best attribute.

He scored 14 touchdowns during his junior and senior seasons, averaging more than 23 yards per reception over that span en route to being classified as a three-star recruit and the top prospect in Quebec. The field is a bit larger in Canadian football, so Meiga wants to improve his route running and getting out of his breaks in order to maximize the use of his speed on a smaller field.

Although the offensive coaching staff looks different than it did when he committed to the Nittany Lions, he said he’s already excited to work with both Taylor Stubblefield and Kirk Ciarrocca.

“I’m hype about that pickup. [Ciarrocca] is a great person to talk with, and I know Minnesota was throwing a lot of good balls, so you can’t go wrong with that,” Meiga said. “I’ll be running fast, and I love those deep balls. I’m trying to go get it. I’m going to go get it."

The lively receiver wasn’t coy about his goals at Penn State, either.

“We have a great group of players, great group of people, great group of coaches,” Meiga said. “We’ve got to win at least a natty.”

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