‘Mad Max’: Woodcreek’s big man is dominant on the court, and a giver off of it
Max VanLaningham has reminders of his daily mission dotted across the Placer County home he shares with his parents and sisters.
They come in the form of motivational words on 3x5 index cards, placed strategically on his desk, or above his bedroom door, or in the bathroom. Some are simple: “Work hard every day.”
When VanLaningham takes the floor at Woodcreek High School as the proverbial big man on the Roseville campus, no one has to remind the 6-foot-8 center to up his game. He’s the one setting an example in practice and in games, a hustler who competes with the team-shared purpose of buckling the will of opponents.
The Long Beach State-bound senior goes by “Mad Max” because he is a disruptive force on defense as rebounder and a shot-blocking menace of a rim protector. He is a thunder dunker who relishes his role as a throwback big man in a game that has evolved over the years into more of a shooting game.
And dunks tend to resonate. They can inspire the dunking team and wear down those ducking from the dunks. At Woodcreek home games, such plays add fuel to the spirited student rooting section that celebrates their hoops heroes.
VanLaningham is quiet by nature, though his game speaks loudly. And there’s nothing subtle about an emphatic dunk.
“I love it and I love my role,” VanLaningham said Thursday night after doing his part to key a 71-47 victory over Christian Brothers of Sacramento to move to 3-0 in the Capital Valley Conference and 12-5 overall. “A dunk brings energy. It gives me energy.”
Mad Max did Mad Max things against Christian Brothers with a stat line consistent with his resume as a four-year starting center. He scored 18 points to go with 12 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots.
But VanLaningham is hardly a one-man gang. He has terrific teammates. The Timberwolves made 10 3-pointers against the Falcons, five from senior guard Michael Kirby Jr. and three from junior grinder guard Zach Bualat. Kirby Jr. had 19 points, Bualat 11, Tristan Lattimore 7 and Zayden Robinson 7 in a show of team balance and depth in beating a team that was Sacramento Bee-ranked No. 6. coming in.
Woodcreek entered the weekend 12-5 with tight losses to Granite Bay, McClatchy, Del Oro and Franklin of Elk Grove in nonleague action, with inspired nonleague victories over Bee-ranked No. 3 Folsom and Bay Area powerhouse Monte Vista of Danville.
Coach praises Mad Max
VanLaningham is a Drew Hibbs sort of player, which is to say relentless in effort and open to improvement. Hibbs is one of the Sacramento region’s all-time great coaches, dating back to his CIF State championship seasons at Foothill High in North Sacramento.
VanLaningham is on his way to a fourth consecutive season as a Bee All-Metro performer. He is on The Bee’s short list this season for All-Metro Player of the Year honors as his team brings to mind the best squads in the 31-year history of the Placer County school.
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Burnell Pinkerton coached the 2009-10 Woodcreek team to a CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division III championship, the first in program history. Paul Hayes led the 2016-17 Woodcreek squad to a 32-3 season that included beating Sheldon of Sacramento in the Northern California Open Division finals.
VanLaningham is Woodcreek’s best big man since the 6-foot-10 Jordan Brown prowled the paint in 2016-17 as The Bee’s Player of the Year.
VanLaningham often texts Hibbs to thank him for running such an intense practice, so coach and pupil vibe perfectly there, too.
“Max has been phenomenal,” Hibbs said. “He’s a great leader. He does it all. If he needs to get on one of his teammates about effort, they’ll listen, and they’ll respond. He doesn’t hear the outside noise. He just plays, and that’s a good thing for our younger players in the program to see.”
A giver of his time
VanLaningham isn’t just a baller. He’s a good student and a giver of his time on campus. He is deeply involved in the school’s Peer Helper program, where students offer an ear, a hug and mentorship, including for special needs students. VanLaningham is impossible to miss with his long frame, warm smile and arms that can reach the rafters.
VanLaningham embraces his role as a listener, doing so with empathy and concern. He will do sign language for a student who is nonverbal. He will hold someone’s hand to escort them to a class.
“He’s amazing like that,” said Lori Ann Donnell, an athletic administrator and a longtime rock of stability at Woodcreek. “Just a great kid.”
“I buddy up with some of the special needs students, just being there as a friend and to listen and help,” VanLaningham said. “We hang out. We talk. I like doing it. It feels good to do it.”
After games, VanLaningham is a magnet to people of all ages. Little kids flock to him to stand next to a giant and to shake his hand. Old timers will compliment him on his game. Opposing players talk it up, some of their connections dating back to youth or off-season AAU competition.
What’s not to like? Mad Max averages nearly 18 points a game with Bualat and Kirby Jr. scoring just over 10. Mad Max pulls down 10 rebounds on average but is capable of yanking down 20. And he blocks nearly four shots a game while altering countless others.
But back to those cue cards at home.
There is more work to be done. VanLaningham said he will study business while on his scholarship tour at Long Beach State of the Big West Conference, though his immediate career goal is to play professional basketball.
First, he wants to win a league and section championship at Woodcreek while improving his skill set.
“I need to get stronger,” he said. “I need to shoot better. I need to be able to dribble better. I need to get in better shape.”
Hibbs, the Woodcreek coach, said his big man’s best days are ahead of him.
“He’s strong, he’s athletic, he loves the game, and he’ll only get better and better,” Hibbs said.
And he won’t slow down a bit. This is a man who competes to the point of fatigue. His mother, Lindsay VanLaningham, said she has suggested that he take a week off in the offseason to rest and recover.
He counters with a raised eyebrow as if to suggest, “Look who you’re talking to, Mom!”
This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 5:00 AM.