Newton Takes Place Among UConn Greats

The Story: Tristen Newton has completed a remarkable rise from an emergency transfer to UConn immortality as the senior guard was named a first-team Associated Press All-American yesterday, cementing his place as one of the best guards to come through Storrs.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Newton became the first All-American at UConn since Shabazz Napier in 2014. He joins an elite group of players on the first team including Napier, Kemba Walker, Hasheem Thabeet, Rudy Gay, Emeka Okafor, Richard Hamilton, Ray Allen and Donyell Marshall to earn those honors while in a UConn uniform. Newton, who was also the AP’s Big East Player of the Year, has had a whirlwind tour as a member of the Huskies.

• Newton’s addition was critical following a mass exodus of players from Storrs after the 2021-22 season. The Huskies were unsure if they would even have enough players to make a run at the NCAA Tournament, but that changed that spring once Newton and others arrived.

• Newton, who transferred to UConn after three seasons at East Carolina, was the key. After a shaky start to his time at UConn, which had silly people like the publishers of this newsletter questioning his ability, Newton turned it on in February 2023 and has not stopped.

• Newton finished last season as a deadly facilitator for the Huskies. He was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four as UConn rode his playmaking and scoring abilities to a national championship.

• Newton flirted with turning pro but returned to Storrs and has been the best all-around guard in the country by combining scoring, playmaking and even rebounding. he’s averaging 15.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and six assists per game. He has two triple-doubles this season — a rarity in college — and has a school-record four in two years in Storrs.

• Newton was the only UConn player to make an AP All-America team. Sophomore Donovan Clingan and senior Cam Spencer were given honorable mentions as the Huskies were well-represented as expected.

BIG EAST FUMBLES: The Big East took a big hit this weekend with only three NCAA Tournament selections, which, at a basic level, means less money for the schools in addition to hurting the brand. It isn’t just an accolade issue.

• The Big East was silent for nearly 48 hours until it released an extremely soft statement on Monday afternoon.

• It’s par for the course for the Big East, which is the second-rated conference but only had three selections to the NCAA Tournament and doesn’t like to fight for itself. Then there are unforced errors, like the Big East Player of the Year voting.

• Newton was the AP Player of the Year in the Big East and a first-team All-American. The conference decided to reverse course, however, and pick Providence’s Devin Carter as the Big East Player of the Year. Carter is a nice chap and certainly deserving with the way he picked up the Friars after the loss of Bryce Hopkins to a knee injury. But, it makes no sense to give the award to a player on a seventh-place team that’s in the NIT.

• Carter was the Big East Player of the Year, but Newton, Marquette’s Tyler Kolek (AP’s second team) and Creighton’s Baylor Schierman (AP’s third team) were named to the All-America teams? How? Carter was given an honorable mention. How did the Big East coaches give the award to a player who is not in the NCAA Tournament while three others on top-12 teams were All-America candidates? It doesn’t make sense, it takes eyes off Newton’s great year, and it looks weird and out of touch. What is valued in college basketball above all else? Winning. Carter missed that first test.

• The Big East does weird things like that, or not putting UConn in the Big East-Big Ten challenge, that make you think there’s something wrong with the coaches and admins. Frankly, this is like giving the MVP award to a player on a last-place baseball team. That’s not how sports are measured. Winning matters.

• While the country fixates on the NCAA Tournament this week, the last glimpse we get of the “Big East’s top player” is sitting on the bench in a 62-57 first-round loss to Boston College last night in the NIT.

— John Silver

Bueckers, Edwards Also Honored

The Story: Although The Associated Press won’t name its All-America teams until later today, the U.S. Basketball Writers’ Association honored Paige Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards by selecting them to its first and second teams, respectively, yesterday afternoon.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Buckers earned her second All-America nod from the organization after she was named to the first team in 2020-21, when she was a freshman, while Edwards received recognition from the USBWA last season, when she was selected to the third team.

• Bueckers was also named the Big East Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding Player of the Big East Tournament. She’s averaging 21.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.4 blocks and 2.2 steals per game while shooting 53.8 percent, including 42.4 percent from 3-point range.

• Edwards has hit two career highs this season with 17.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game, and she had 16 double-doubles during the regular season.

• Joining Bueckers on the first team were Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, Stanford’s Cameron Brink, South Carolina’s Kamilla Cardoso, LSU’s Angel Reese and USC’s JuJu Watkins. Alongside Edwards on the second team were Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes, Virginia Tech’s Elizabeth Kitley and South Carolina’s Te-Hina Paopao.

EDWARDS WATCH: Edwards is expected to play in the Huskies’ first-round NCAA Tournament game on Saturday against No. 14 seed Jackson State, but her return to the team for a potential fifth season seems to be in doubt.

• Geno Auriemma said at the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce that he expects “only one” of his seniors to return. Bueckers and Aubrey Griffin, who will be in her sixth season, both said they’d be back next year, while Nika Muhl will forgo her last year of eligibility to begin a pro career.

• Edwards’ availability is complicated by NIL restrictions as she’s Canadian, and she’s likely to be one of the top picks in the WNBA Draft.

— Zac Boyer

Morning Reads

• The softball team remained red hot yesterday by winning its 10th straight game, 6-0, over CCSU in Storrs.

• The baseball team fell 4-1 to Rhode Island yesterday afternoon.

• The men’s track and field team opened the season last weekend as it guns for its fourth straight outdoor track title. The top athletes to watch are Marc Morrison in the jumps and middle-distance runner Mahamed Sharif is also leading the team. The men’s team is coming off its third straight indoor title.

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