After trading burgers for beetroot, former basketball player Malcolm Regisford ’19 is sharing his passion for health and wellness.

When basketball player Malcolm Regisford ’19 sustained an ankle injury during his third year at Colgate, he followed his doctors’ orders for recovery: physical therapy and plenty of rest. But after nearly 10 months, when the pain and soreness lingered, the California native made one big change to his healing regimen. 

“I cut out all animal products and switched to a plant-based diet,” he says, heeding the advice of a family friend — an NBA trainer and longtime vegan, who explained how animal products can contribute to inflammation and hinder healing. 

So Regisford challenged himself to overhaul his diet for just a few weeks, trading staples like chicken breast, beef, and (his favorite) mac and cheese for a wholly plant-based approach. He “got creative” in Frank Dining Hall, pairing vegetables and salad greens with plenty of nuts, beans, and seeds for added protein, and experimenting with oils, herbs, and spices. 

The result was dramatic. “It was a pretty radical shift in how I felt physically, mentally, and spiritually,” he says. With a new and “profound mental clarity,” Regisford was back on the court for his final season, where the 6’8″, 225-pound forward felt stronger and sharper than ever, wrapping up his college basketball tenure as one of Colgate’s all-time top rebounders. 

The experience made such an impression on Regisford that he began to rethink his career goals. Instead of pursuing a future in professional basketball as he’d always planned, Regisford followed his newfound passion for vegan cooking and nutrition — a path that would soon inspire thousands of others through social media and, later, culminate in a book featuring Regisford’s recipes and wellness philosophies. 

“[Changing my diet] was so powerful for me that, for the first time, I started to think about what my life could look like outside of basketball.” 

After graduating in 2019, he headed back to Los Angeles and scored a series of jobs as a production assistant — including gigs with NBC and Buzzfeed — exposing him to the world of digital content creation. In his free time, Regisford continued to experiment with vegan ingredients, creating new recipes that piqued the curiosity of colleagues and friends. 

“People would see what I was eating for lunch and say, ‘That looks and smells good, what is it?’” he recalls. “And they were always surprised that it was vegan.” 

A videographer friend encouraged him to start posting his content to social media — a hobby that took off in spring 2020, when the pandemic afforded Regisford more time at home to perfect his recipes and short-form video style. 

Slowly, his snappy TikToks featuring recipes like chickpea fried rice, beet carpaccio, and plantain lasagna had earned him a following among vegans and meat eaters alike. 

“My message has always been [that] you don’t need to change your whole life and become vegan, but I do want to inspire curiosity, and a great meal can be an entry point to this lifestyle,” he says. 

By 2023, with his top videos racking up more than 800,000 views, Regisford was approached by Mango Media, a publisher interested in putting his recipes and wellness tips into a book. 

Released in August 2024, Tapped In Wellness: Lasting Performance and Health Through Mindful Living and Eating is a straightforward primer for anyone curious about a plant-based diet and its benefits. Regisford’s most viral recipes — like his famed lentil smashburger tacos — are paired with vivid photos and easy-to-follow instructions. 

“The book has been a great way to reach a different group of people, and I’m really proud of it,” he says. “And it’s still kind of surreal to see a book with my name and face on it.”