Is Malik Newman an option for the Kentucky Wildcats?

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Now that the season is over and the expected exodus of Kentucky Wildcats to the NBA has occurred, the big question is who will join Tyler Ulis, Marcus Lee, and Alex Poythress next season? Kentucky has commits from three players and John Calipari is turning up the heat to land a few more recruits. The common thought is that Kentucky will add at least a guard and a big to their roster for next year and Kentucky is in the hunt for several top recruits. However, Malik Newman stands alone as the only guard that Calipari is after (at least publicly) and the question arises as to how likely his commitment is.

Granted, Kentucky will have two talented guards in Isaiah Briscoe and Charles Matthews coming in as freshmen and Dominique Hawkins returns as well. But John Calipari wants Malik Newman as well. Newman in an interesting recruit as he has yet to take an official visit and there is speculation that Mississippi State and LSU may lead for him. His high school coach talked to the Herald Leader recently and addressed the rumor that Kentucky may be out of the running.

"“I don’t think anybody is off his list yet. I don’t think he’s made a decision. I’ve heard all kinds of things. I’ve heard people say he’s already committed to LSU and all this crazy stuff. Me and him laugh about it all the time. I don’t know where this LSU stuff came from. Now, LSU is definitely an option. But we went down for that visit, just to watch a game, and the next thing you know (people are saying) he’s committed to LSU. I’ve grown accustomed to not really paying attention to that stuff. Malik is still just wide open with it. He hasn’t made a decision one way or another. I don’t think anybody’s out. He’s kind of just waiting to see. I don’t know what he’s going to do visit-wise, but he could probably end up not taking any visits. Malik knows the schools, he knows what they have to offer. And, like I said, the main thing I think he was looking at was to see who all was leaving and going to the draft. Now that that’s done, I think the process will probably speed up a little bit.”"

The big question with Malik Newman is probably where his mindset is. Does he want to compete for playing time and compete for a national title or does he want to be the focal point of an up and coming team?

"The key with Newman will be whether he wants to play point guard and get a ton of shots for a team like Mississippi State or play off the ball on a more balanced team like Kentucky that figures to win a lot more games. LSU, which has already landed elite recruits Ben Simmons and Antonio Blakeney, is a threat because it offers a combination of both; Newman could play point and be on a talented, up-and-coming team."

The next few weeks will be key here as John Calipari makes his push. In this type of situation, Calipari usually gets his commit, but Ben Howland at Mississippi State will give a good fight as well as LSU. There has been a common thought that Newman was waiting to see which players would leave Kentucky and you expect to see more interest towards the Wildcats now. The fact that he has not committed yet says something.

It’s time to trust in John Calipari and let him do his job.

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