UConn Hoops Newcomer Notebook: No. 3 Tristen Newton
On February 29, 2020, just days before the world shutdown for COVID-19, UConn Men’s Hoops played in what most fans remember as the “James Bouknight Dunk” game. With two minutes left in the first half against lowly East Carolina, the explosive freshman caught a lob and threw down one of the most memorable dunks in recent Husky history. The dunk made national sports headlines and was all over, but what people remember less about that game was that an under-the-radar ECU freshman set a career high, notching 25 points in the blowout loss.
That freshman? New UConn transfer Tristen Newton.
BEFORE UCONN...
Newton, a 6’5’’ point guard, had a storied high school career at Burges in El Paso, Texas, collecting 3,266 points in four years, which was highlighted by a 37.4 scoring mark his senior year en route to a District 1-5A title. Despite his success, Newton was unnoticed, not ranked or recruited by any high major schools.
He went on to play for ECU and made an immediate impact, dropping 20 points in his debut. A trying freshman season saw the point guard average 11 points with 4.5 boards and 3.7 dimes with the Pirates winning just 11 of their 31 games. Newton stayed with the team and took on a heavier load as a facilitator, seeing his assist totals rise and his scoring and rebounding drop. In the shortened season, ECU only managed two conference wins on their way to an 8-11 mark.
In his junior year, Newton more than doubled his sophomore scoring, averaging 17.7 points, while adding 5.0 assists and 4.8 boards. Despite Newton’s personal heroics, his lack of support resulted in an even 15-15 record for the Pirates. He then entered the transfer portal and landed on UConn as the destination for his final two years of eligibility.
THE SCOUTING REPORT...
Newton possesses a number of skills that will be useful with the departure of most of UConn’s guard corps. Offensively, Newton is a pass-first point guard, always looking to get his teammates open looks. He excels at creating fastbreak opportunities and knows how to generate big plays by finding the right person. His passes aren’t necessarily as interesting or flashy as junior Andre Jackson’s, but he makes great reads and is a steady, calming force. Although his turnover numbers were a bit high at 3.5 per contest, that was a result of always having to be on ball and receiving minimal help.
Even with his pass-first mindset, Newton knows when it’s time to turn it on offensively. His jumper isn’t the prettiest, but it goes in often enough, shooting 33.3% from deep last year. This year, with less defensive attention on him, he should have an easier time finding open looks, bringing that figure up. Newton is an incredibly tough finisher, able to muscle through contact to finish layups or floaters. His package offensively is efficient and will be used as a swiss army knife in a Husky offense that has a lot of questions and openings right now.
Defensively, Newton is solid and is able to make solid reads to pick off passes to create the fastbreak situations that he’s so good at. With his length, he’s generally able to keep defenders in front of him, but as is true with most players, could use work keeping his engagement there all the time. He has the tools and the body to become an elite defender though, which he should be able to maximize on a Dan Hurley-coached team.
“Tristen is the type of guard that I just enjoy coaching — diligent worker, can score and can create and he’s got a really, really good feel,” Hurley said to Shreyas Laddha of the Hartford Courant. “College basketball is going to see the best version of him. He’s got resources at his disposal in terms of what he can do physically in the weight room, becoming a better and stronger athlete. He’s what we expected. He’s a great kid on top of that, too.”
STORRS IMPACT...
On a UConn roster that features just three players who have played over 100 minutes in a Husky uniform, a starting spot is wide open for Newton to grab. With his experience and his consensus ranking as a top-tier transfer, he figures to be the starting point guard. He now holds the ability to kick it out to sophomore Jordan Hawkins for a three or down low to junior Adama Sanogo for an easy hook, so the scoring burden will be much less for Newton than it was at ECU. Expect him to keep his assist numbers close to five per game and reduce his scoring down to the 11-14 range. Newton’s grit will be something that UConn fans grow to love and there’s hope that he will help lead UConn to their first tournament win since 2016.
It’s also notable that Newton spent a year playing with Vance Jackson, who was part of the heralded “Top Five” 2016 recruiting class and transferred after a year as a Husky.
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