Has any UConn upper classman helped their future basketball career more so than Tristan Newton?

[Husky25]

Hilton, Kemba, Bazz, Martin, and hopefully Newton

Kemba showed promise his Freshman year, before regressing in year two. In hindsight, I think 2009-10 season was a result of Walker probably feeling pressure to be "The Man," the Final Four team being gutted by four key departures, and Dyson still being somewhat gingerly on his leg. It also seemed like Calhoun wasn't getting the quality recruits he had been or adjusting plays to their strengths.

This made Walker's Junior NC season ("Kemba and the Pups") looked that much crazier by comparison as he grew into the lead role, rendering all of the above moot.

Any team that takes him in the second round wins the draft.

I have no argument against this other than it's how front offices appear to feel. The draft has gotten younger even from Kemba's day.

In 2011, three lottery picks (Fredette and the Morris twins) were 22 years old at the draft, and an additional three (Walker, Vesely, and Klay Thompson) could legally drink in the Green Room. The same could not be said for the first 13 picks this past June. Hawkins was selected No. 14 as a 21 year old Sophomore. The first 22 year old was Jaime Jaquez Jr. at #18, and the first 23 year old was Kobe Brown at #30.

I think he should be drafted, but at 23 and after five seasons of NCAA basketball, Newton will probably be too old for a team to take a 1st round chance. His ceiling will simply be too low for further development and the perception will be, "A man playing among boys will of course be a good college player." In other words, He will be what he currently is.

 

[HooperScooper]

Hilton went from a bit player to a lottery pick... Tristan has been great but that's not his reality.

Uh oh.........

T-R-I-S-T-E-N

 

[Spaceman213J]

Ryan Boatright made a nice jump, but I think winning the championship the year before changes the way it was perceived a bit... that and that something seemed to click around half way through his junior year. He did a nice job though going from the 2nd option to the main man, though.

 

[Mr. French]

Caron Butler's late season run, and Charlie Villanueva

Both were sophomores

Nobody was thinking about Caron in mid February, then we went unbeaten all the way to the Elite 8. From coming back to college to the lottery

Calhoun said Chaz was the most overrated player he ever coached in December 2004. Said he couldn't play professional basketball in Timbuktu. Charlie started to average like 17 and 10 the rest of the way, left a lottery pick

I know they weren't upperclassmen, but they both won the lottery after amazing finishes

I'm not necessarily saying Calhoun didn't say that, but I've never heard that. That seems like a wild thing to say. Do we have verification on that story?

Calling a sophomore the most overrated player you ever coached, in public? Sheesh.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Hoping he can sneak into the second round and secure a nice G league spot for a few years. The odds are stacked against him as a 5th year who doesn’t project well as a 3nD role player, but maybe he can be someone second unit ball handler, with his unique size and playmaking ability.

 

[elmcityboy]

bumping this thread because vecenie discussed newton's draft stock on his latest podcast. says that a bunch of nba analytics guys really like him.

he also talks about donovan's stock given the injury/conditioning issues.

uconn at 24:10ish

 

[Punkbo]

Tyrese Martin comes to mind

Somebody help me out with this one. Why is Tyrese buried in the G-League. He has an NBA body and an unparalleled work ethic. It was an absolute honor to have him represent our UConn Huskies. Will this guy ever get a break or is the talent discrepancy too large?

 

[Dogdeacon]

He’s basically Kevin Ollie with more offensive pop. And KO was in the NBA for 10 years.

Defensively you are right they are pretty comparable and that might be big part of NBA attractiveness for each. Though KO stayed in league partially b/c he was a backup PG that NEVER turned the ball over.

Offensively very different, KO couldn't really shoot if over 15' (line drive) and mostly was a supreme distributor and glue guy involving everyone and pass first. Newton much better shooter, finisher and just scorer generally though he is also good at distributing and running offense (though less responsibility than PG in Calhoun's system).

 

[HuskyHawk]

bumping this thread because vecenie discussed newton's draft stock on his latest podcast. says that a bunch of nba analytics guys really like him.

he also talks about donovan's stock given the injury/conditioning issues.

uconn at 24:10ish

Newton is a fascinating case. He's not a stellar athlete and is so calm and methodical he looks even worse than he is. NBA too often fixates on one on one skills, even though the game has changed. It's what produces high picks for guys like Fultz. Newton reminds me a little of Derek White, with worse defense. He just kind of does everything well. Shoots from very deep, draws fouls, crushes FTs, scores at the rim, rebounds, passes the ball and doesn't turn it over.

Yet you can look and say he won't blow by Jrue Holiday. No, he won't. Neither would White. Doesn't really matter anymore in today's NBA. He moves well with or without the ball and gets into space. I think Newton is actually going to really surprise whoever drafts him. 20 years ago he wouldn't be an NBA player, but I think he is now. For those who hate the White comparison, size is the same, he played 3 years in DII transferred to Colorado his senior year. At Colorado 18.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. Newton averages 16.3, 6.8 and 6 per game.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Armstrong for sure. He went from being an afterthought of a recruit to a legitimate NBA prospect. It also didn't hurt that he probably put on 40-50 lbs of muscle over 2-3 years.

Tate George, but that was based solely on one shot. He was a 2nd round pick at best before that. He had good size for a point guard (at that time), but was slow and had no perimeter shot.

Knight getting drafted in the 1st round still astounds me. I am not sure what Pitino was thinking when he signed him to that huge contract in Boston. I swear Pitino was just a NY guy trying to destroy a Boston franchise. Knight's skill set just didn't fit with the NBA.

It's hard to put players like Butler and Villanueva in this category. They were highly regarded players coming out of high school.

I thought Boone was always overrated. He made a living off of sloppy seconds his freshman year because opposing teams were so focused on Okafor. I admit, I am biased against the 2006 team. I thought, as a whole, they were lazy and focused more on the NBA than actually playing. Probably the most underperforming team in UConn history. they should have been a lock for the Final Four.

Travis would be so much more valuable now.

Even 25+ years ago he was a face up shooter, good rebounder, shot blocker and could run the floor.

 

[Deleted at users request]

I'm not necessarily saying Calhoun didn't say that, but I've never heard that. That seems like a wild thing to say. Do we have verification on that story?

Calling a sophomore the most overrated player you ever coached, in public? Sheesh.

Not sure if he said something that harsh either but Calhoun did have a tendency to push his best players buttons in public.

He had a way of challenging guys to push them to be even better.

 

[huskyinfl]

Hilton is who I thought of as well. He came back senior year having totally reworked his body and his play.

He is also the basis for a new measurement system "Hilton units"

 

[HuskyHawk]

Travis would be so much more valuable now.

Even 25+ years ago he was a face up shooter, good rebounder, shot blocker and could run the floor.

Way ahead of his time. Even more ahead of his time, and still a great NBA career, Cliff Robinson. He’d be a top ten player in this era.

 

[Deepster]

Newton is really an interesting case study.

1) He has definitely helped himself by staying. (Future players take note)
2) The fact this team is SO unselfish and has so many options still hurts his stock.
3) Credit to him for being team first and not using the year as a showcase or highlight video.

The Kansas game is a huge plus for him that won't go unnoticed. Like the National Championship, when they needed him to do more, he did in a big way. And I feel like he could do that every night.

4) I don't know where his game fits in the NBA template. I don't think he's a starter. His size and ability to draw contact and drive/dish is a plus. He's not an NBA 3 threat.
5) If he's the main driver to a repeat down the stretch, he'll go down as one of the greatest handful of Huskies of all time.

All in all, I think he's a solid NBA piece of the right puzzle and will have a 10 year career if a team sees him fitting into their scheme.