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Once a young, fiery change of pace player, PG Ja’Quan Newton is now the elder statesman of the Miami Hurricanes Men’s Basketball team.
The 6’2” 185lb Senior from Philadelphia, PA has plenty of talent, skill, and experience, and should be the floor general for the Canes. Newton is entering his final year at Miami, and looks to lead a Canes team with loads of talent to a strong season.
Coming out of Neumann Goretti HS in Philadelphia, Newton was a top recruit (#12 PG in America) in the 2014 recruiting class. He is the all-time leading scorer for both his high school and the Philadelphia Catholic League.
Over the course of his career at Miami, Newton has averages of 9.1 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 95 games (32 starts) of action. In his first year starting in 2016-17, Newton averaged 13.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists in his expanded role.
Newton’s strength is his ability to get to the rim. He’s a relentless and talented diver, and he will use a variety of moves, including straight line drives and Eurosteps, to get to the hole. Newton is a good, but not great, on ball defender, who uses his length and anticipation to jump in passing lanes from time to time. Newton is a better rebounder than you would expect for someone his size, but that’s a testament to his toughness as a player.
In 2017-18, Miami is going to need Newton to do what he does best, drive the ball to the rim, and either score the ball or find one of the many wing players and shooters Miami has on the roster to get buckets.
One thing I would like to see Newton clean up is his off-court interactions. The talented guard has been suspended multiple times in his career for violations of team rules. While it’s not okay, it’s understandable for a younger player to have those kind of mistakes. As a senior leader and starting PG on a top 15 team, neither Newton nor Miami can afford those kind of missteps this season.
Newton was once the best 6th man in the ACC, but now runs the show for the Hurricanes. And I, for one, am very excited to see what he and the Canes can do this season.