Malik Newman chooses Kansas

By J-W Staff Report Jul 1, 2016

Photo courtesy of Kansas Athletics

KU basketball commitment Malik Newman signed with the Jayhawks on Friday, July 1 and will transfer to Kansas from Mississippi State.

Former Mississippi State guard Malik Newman has decided to transfer to Kansas University.

Newman, a 6-foot-3 combo guard from Jackson, Miss., who averaged 11.3 points a game in his one season at the SEC school, chose KU over Western Kentucky, Oregon, North Carolina State and Miami. He made a campus visit to KU on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Newman made the announcement to ESPN.com.

“I’m glad they (Jayhawks) wanted me again,” said Newman who considered KU, Kentucky and others out of high school but chose MSU. “I love the basketball culture at Kansas, the way (caoch) Bill Self holds guys accountable and love the atmosphere.”

Newman declared for the 2016 NBA Draft, but pulled his name out after failing to impress at the NBA Combine and during individual workouts for various NBA teams.

He was the No. 8-ranked player in the recruiting Class of 2015, choosing his dad’s alma mater, MSU, over KU, Kentucky and others.

“We recruited Malik extremely hard out of high school,” KU coach Bill Self said of the Callaway High School guard. “When he entered the draft and decided to pull his name out and transfer, we convinced him to come to campus. We feel very fortunate that we were able to influence him and his family that this is the best place for him to try to realize his goals both on and off the basketball court.”

Newman, who was slowed by turf toe and a back injury last saxon, hit 39.1 percent of his shots (37.9 percent from three; 68.7 from line). That did not change Self’s opinion of him, which was based largely on his initial evaluation.

“In our opinion, Malik was a top-five player coming out of high school,” Self said. “He’s a combo guard that has good size, can really shoot the ball and stretch it. There are things he needs to get better at, but the year off will allow him to address things that the NBA people wanted to see more of out of him. Even though it didn’t happen the first time for us, we were excited to know we are getting a fabulous talent – just a year later than what we originally planned.”

Said Newman of the wild path he took to Kansas: “It’s the right place for me to be,” Newman told ESPN. “I can compete against those guys every day (Frank Mason III, Devonte Graham, Josh Jackson), and that will make me better. It also allows me to get comfortable with the system.”