Malik Newman to Visit Kansas

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Malik Newman will visit Kansas on Tuesday following his trip to Oregon Thursday-Saturday.

Mississippi State transfer Malik Newman will visit Kansas on Tuesday, per a source. Just visited Oregon.

– Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) June 25, 2016

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Kansas was also involved for Duke transfer Derryck Thornton, who ultimately chose USC.

Newman has also visited Western Kentucky and N.C. State last week,

He will have to sit out the 2016-17 season as per NCAA regulations.

“Sitting out a year is best for Malik because he knows he has to mature and get his body in better shape to play college basketball,” Horatio Webster, Newman’s father, told Scout.com. “While his offense is good, he knows he still needs to work on building his body up and improving his defense. He can work on those things while he sits out.”

Once projected as high as the No. 4 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Newman is now slotted at No. 35 in 2017 by DraftExpress.com.

After withdrawing from the NBA Draft, the 6-foot-4 Newman announced he would transfer from Mississippi State. His father previously told SNY.tv that he wasn’t happy with how Mississippi State coach Ben Howland had used Newman, saying his son needed to have the ball in his hands more than he did.

“I don’t know if he was used the right way, either,” Webster said. “Fifty percent of the time he was just sitting in the corner, which I think Ben is a phenomenal coach. Ben did whatever he could to make your team win so I’m not knocking him for that but I just think Malik is really good with the ball in his hand and he didn’t get a chance to show that part of his game, either.”