Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Recruiting: Looking at the 2015 class

3 of 3

Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Malik Newman is another of those recruits that has seemingly been waiting to see what the Kentucky Wildcats players would do in regards to the NBA Draft, but he has not committed yet. It seems as if Newman has had Kentucky atop his list forever, and Ben Howland is coming on strong at Mississippi State and LSU is in the running as well. There is also the possibility that Newman could head overseas to play next year.

"According to a report from Evan Daniels of Scout.com, teams from China and Europe have reached out to the 6-foot-4 guard from Callaway (MS) who will play in Saturday’s Nike Hoop Summit for Team USA. “We have [heard from overseas teams],” Horatio Webster, Newman’s father, told Daniels. “One time he asked me about what it would be like overseas and then another time, he says ‘No dad I’m not going to do that.’ Of course I’m not going to make him do it.” Emmanuel Mudiay chose to play in China instead of going to SMU after there were some issues with the NCAA Clearinghouse, and he reportedly signed for more than $1 million. Now Mudiay is a projected top-5 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. “We are talking around $1 million,” Webster told Daniels. “They’ll sell you on getting a shoe contract so you’d probably leave there with $1.5 or $2 million.” Newman, a projected top-5 pick in 2016, is considering Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Kansas and N.C. State and is expected to commit sometime in the coming weeks. He previously said that if he could jump straight to the NBA from high school he would."

It’s hard to gauge what will happen with Newman but if you still think Kentucky is his top option unless he goes the Emmanual Mudiay route. Just today, it was announced that Newman would not be taking any official visits, so you get an ideal that he knows where he wants to go.

"The 6-foot-3 guard visited UK for Big Blue Madness in October and also visited LSU for the Tigers’ home game against UK this past season. He has taken multiple trips to Ole Miss and Mississippi State, where his father played basketball in the late 1990s. Newman has not visited Kansas or N.C. State, which means it’s probably unlikely he’ll end up at one of those two schools. There is no timetable for his decision."

More from Wildcat Blue Nation

Home/Kentucky basketball recruiting