Newton the Foundation for the Repeat

The Story: Tristen Newton wasn’t sure he would return to UConn following its national championship run, but after testing the NBA Draft waters, is back to take a lead role on a team with back-to-back title aspirations.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Newton, a 6-foot-5 grad student, showcased a bit of what he will offer this year for the Huskies in the Blue and White scrimmage that was played at Gampel Pavilion last night. He scored 18 points during the modified game.

• Newton scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the national championship game against San Diego State. He made the all-tournament team, turning an inconsistent season into a run for the ages for the Huskies.

• Newton, whose cousin is Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones, struggled at times in January and was even removed from the starting lineup. He responded shooting 42% over his last 16 games and becoming a scoring and playmaking threat, the final piece to the Huskies’ championship puzzle.

MR. TRIPLE DOUBLE: Newton averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game last season. He also had two triple-doubles, making him the first UConn player to have two in one season, and reached double figures in scoring in 17 games.

• Newton figures to up his scoring average closer to what he was when he was the lead guard at East Carolina, where he averaged 18 points per game, and will be a facilitator and playmaker for the Huskies in the half court.

OUR TAKE: Newton is going to form a devastating backcourt scoring duo with 6-foot-6 freshman Stephon Castle.

• Castle is the explosive combo guard who can play on and off the ball, and Newton is also in that combo guard role where he is comfortable initiating offense or becoming a shooter on the wing.

• The Huskies are going to look like an NBA team with two players taller than 6-foot-5 in the backcourt, two 6-foot-8 forwards shooting 3s in Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer, the transfer from Rutgers who made five 3s last night in the scrimmage, and then a 7-foot-2 center in Donovan Clingan. That size is going to be difficult for many opponents to handle.

• If Newton can control the ball as a point guard like he did in the final 16 games a year ago, UConn is in for another big season.

CLINGAN ON SHELF: Clingan remains out with a foot injury that may impact his availability and conditioning for the season opener on Nov. 6 against Northern Arizona. He is expected to return to practice next week.

— John Silver (john@uconndaily.com)

UConn Set to Face ‘Michael Vick’

The Story: The Huskies have gone up against several quarterbacks who are fleet of foot, but nobody compares to Boston College’s Thomas Castellanos, who leads the FBS in rushing yards by a quarterback.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Castellanos, a sophomore who spent last season at UCF, has run 111 times for 628 yards and nine touchdowns in seven games. That’s an average of 89.7 yards per game, or 5.7 yards per attempt, in 15.9 attempts per game.

• Castellanos ran for 142 yards and four touchdowns on 31 carries in a 27-24 win at Army three weeks ago, which is ridiculous for a quarterback. He also ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in a 38-21 win at Georgia Tech on Saturday, so he enters the game against UConn with back-to-back 100-yard performances.

• Jim Mora compared Castellanos to Michael Vick — and if anyone’s capable of seeing the resemblance, it’s Mora, who coached Vick with the Falcons from 2004-06. We couldn’t find a recent time, but Castellanos was clocked at 4.67 seconds in the 40-yard dash as a junior in high school.

• Castellanos has completed 57.4 percent of his passes while throwing for 199.7 yards per game, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions. He barely played last season at UCF and was a three-star prospect in the Class of 2022 who primarily received offers from MAC and Sun Belt schools.

WHAT DID MORA SAY? “We’ve done a good job against [mobile quarterbacks] lately. After Week 2, we’ve been able to put the brakes on that. But this guy’s different. He’s a different speed, different quickness, than anyone we’ve seen. He leads the FBS in rushing yardage for a quarterback. He’s as dynamic as you’ll see. You think of guys like Lamar Jackson and you think of guys like Michael Vick. When you watch this kid put his foot in the ground and turn it upfield and accelerate and make people miss, he has those traits. Now, he’s obviously much younger than they are and not as established, but he’s on his way to being that.”

ANOTHER DUAL THREAT: The quarterback with the second-most rushing yards this season is USF’s Byrum Brown, who is averaging 70.9 yards per game. He ran for 61 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries against UConn last week, but he had to throw more often as the Bulls trailed for more than half the game.

• Georgia State’s Darren Grainger ran for 142 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries on Sept. 9. Duke’s Riley Leonard, who ran for 98 yards against Clemson and 97 yards against Northwestern, ran for just 30 yards against UConn on Sept. 23 — but the Blue Devils were up by 17 just three minutes into the second quarter and Leonard didn’t need to run.

— Zac Boyer (zac@uconndaily.com)

Morning Reads

• The men’s and women’s soccer teams are in the top quarter of the Big East heading into the postseason, but it’s going to take automatic bids to get each into the NCAA Tournament.

• KK Arnold is adding energy to the women’s basketball team at the start of her freshman campaign.

• The men’s basketball team’s uncertainty with No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg should settle this week as he is expected to choose between Duke and UConn, though he seems to be strongly leaning toward the Blue Devils. Patrick Ngongba cut UConn from his list after also visiting Duke last weekend.

Top photo: Tristen Newton passes the ball during the Huskies’ game against Marquette at the XL Center. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)