By CHIP MILLER
Coveted 2015 guard Malik Newman has set four in-home visits and one official visit, according to the Clarion-Ledger and SNY.tv sources.
Newman, ranked No. 3 in the 247Sports 2015 Composite Player Rankings, has yet to trim his list, but is expected to announce a final five before the start of his senior season.
But before then, Newman will host four in-home visits with some of the biggest names in college basketball. Both Kansas’s Bill Self and Kentucky’s John Calipari will conduct an in-home on Sept. 9, followed the next day by both N.C. State’s Mark Gottfried and UConn’s Kevin Ollie, as the reigning national champion Huskies will conduct their second in-home with the star guard.
UConn also remains in the hunt for 6-10 Milwaukee Dominican big man Diamond Stone, who has talked of a potential package deal with Newman, his teammate on the USA U17 World Championship team.
Newman has also set an official visit with Coach Billy Kennedy and Texas A&M for Oct. 11, when the No. 7 Aggies play No. 14 Ole Miss at Kyle Field.
Kennedy will look to add Newman to an already successful class that includes four-star center Tyler Davis and four-star forward D.J. Hogg, who announced his commitment to the Aggies on Sunday.
Newman has yet to schedule any additional official visits but is expected to take all five prior to making a decision some time in the Spring. Until then, his high school coach David Sanders believes college coaches will be wasting their time.
“Just knowing Malik, from now until the time the season is over, [college coaches are] really just going to be wasting their time, because he’s not going to think about recruiting,” he told the Herald-Leader. “He’ll listen to what they have to say and enjoy his visits, but as far as making his decision — he is not thinking about it. That’s the farthest thing from his mind right now.”
