Although Malik Newman has been linked to visiting Kansas and N.C. State, his father told SNY.tv that no visits had been set up as of Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m not even in town so that’s not true,” Horatio Webster said Wednesday by phone. “We don’t have any visits set up. We haven’t talked to Kansas about a visit, we haven’t talked to N.C. State about a visit.”
A Mississippi State spokesman said there was no update on which schools had received a release to contact Newman.
“We haven’t even gotten our release yet so there’s no visits being set up,” Webster added.
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.”
Kansas and N.C. State both make sense as possible landing spots for Newman.
Kansas is also involved for Duke transfer Derryck Thornton, who is also considering Miami and Washington, and Kansas presumably would not take both transfers, who must sit out the 2016-17 season before suiting up in 2017-18.
N.C. State was involved for Newman the first time around but then landed point guard Dennis Smith Jr., who is expected to have a major role this season with the addition of 7-foot Turkish star Omer Yurtseven.
“Me and Malik have not even talked about it [potential visits],” Webster said.
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