Malik Newman to benefit Jayhawks, self during transfer season

By Matt Tait     Oct 3, 2016

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Malik Newman gets in for a bucket past Clay Young during Late Night in the Phog on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at Allen Fieldhouse.

Although he won’t be able to play an actual game until the start of the 2017-18 season, Mississippi State transfer Malik Newman got the most out of his first appearance at Allen Fieldhouse last Saturday night.

Starting for the Crimson squad, which included Devonte’ Graham, Carlton Bragg, Josh Jackson, Dwight Coleby, Evan Maxwell and Tyler Self, Newman finished with 12 points and three assists in 18 minutes of the scrimmage that capped this year’s Late Night in the Phog.

Heading into Late Night, Newman said he was equal parts excited and nervous.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played in front of 16,000 people,” he told reporters last week.

But once he hit the floor, the nerves were hardly noticeable.

Newman looked smooth in transition, knocked down a couple of outside jumpers and finished with ease at the rim.

All were skills Newman showed as a true freshman at Mississippi State, where he made 21 starts in 29 games and averaged 11.3 points per game a season ago. But none, according to KU coach Bill Self, would come as easy for Newman in the future as they did on Saturday night.

“I hate to say that,” Self said. “You’re not gonna get open shots like that. He can shoot the ball though.”

For reference, Newman made 61 of 161 three-point attempts (.379) in 803 minutes for the Bulldogs last season. KU’s leading three-point shooter last season (Devonte’ Graham) made 75 of 170 three-pointers in 1,238 minutes.

Although Newman’s ability to knock down the outside shot won’t help the Jayhawks on the scoreboard for another year, Self said Newman’s presence on the roster and deep range will help KU during practice as soon as this season.

Asked which player on this year’s roster Newman’s presence would impact the most, Self offered an obvious but potentially overlooked answer.

“If anybody gets help the most, it’ll be him,” Self said. “Having to go against Frank and Devonte’ and Josh or whatever…. His ball-handling skills will get better, but he can certainly shoot the basketball.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.