This isn’t the way Mississippi State fans envisioned it going.
Malik Newman, who passed on offers from Kentucky and Kansas, stayed home and signed with Mississippi State last April. MSU fans celebrated what the McDonald’s All-American and the top-ranked shooting guard in the country meant to their program.
As a top-five recruit in the 2015-2016 freshman class, Newman was supposed to come in and take college basketball by storm with his ability to score the basketball. Unfortunately, things have not gone as Bulldog fans had hoped.
Heck, Newman isn’t even considered the best freshman on State’s team. That nod goes to Quinndary Weatherspoon.
I am pretty sure things haven’t gone as Newman had hoped either. He has generated little buzz with the Bulldogs, who are near the bottom of the SEC standings. But he’s also had trouble adjusting to an offense that doesn’t run through him.
Yes, Newman has had injury problems, but he still hasn’t lived up to expectations — his or the Bulldog faithful.
In high school, Newman was known as a shot-maker who could create and make difficult shots. During his freshman year though, it’s been just about the opposite. Thus far, his ability to make catch-and-shoot jumpers has been his strong suit.
But some of the blame for Newman’s struggles fall on first-year coach Ben Howland, who should be doing more with ball screens to get open looks for the freshman guard. Newman just doesn’t seem to fit that well into Howland’s style.
The former Callaway star has scored just 20 points in the last three games for the Bulldogs — 17 of which game Saturday in a 79-66 win over Auburn.
This whole Newman situation has been somewhat of a head-scratcher for me. Here’s what one NBA expert, Sam Vecenie of CBSsports.com, has to say: “At 6-4 with a 6-5 wingspan, Newman isn’t exactly perfect from a frame point of view. In high school, he was simply just more skilled than everyone and got by with it. Now though, it seems like that lack of length is raising issues once Newman gets into the lane, making it easier to close down on the combo guard and making it more difficult for him to get the necessary separation to score. It’s also worth noting that while Newman does have strong lateral quickness, he’s never necessarily been the most explosive vertical player. That, plus the lack of length, points to why his numbers near the rim are as bad as they are, and could point to genuine struggles for him in the future.”
At one point Newman was considered a future lottery pick after a one-and-done career at MSU. That’s obviously not happening now.
But Vecenie does rank Newman as a top-50 NBA prospect and believes there is a good chance Newman would be selected in the draft despite his limitations.
Some State fans are thinking Newman might now stick around for a second year in Starkville. Experts say players under Howland tend to make a rather large leap from their freshman to sophomore seasons, so it might behoove Newman to ride it out even though this might not be the perfect fit for him and see if he can rebuild his stock.
But I don’t see that happening. Newman’s only choice is to declare for the draft and hopefully wow scouts during workouts and let the chips fall where they may.
This kid will eventually play in the NBA — maybe just not through the path all of us once expected.
