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Around this time a year ago, Malik Newman was among the brightest guard prospects coming into college basketball.
Newman, the 10th-ranked prospect in the 2015 recruiting class and often regarded as the best guard of that class, had made his commitment to the underachieving Mississippi State Bulldogs and looked to be the savior of that program.
But things would only get worse from there for the talented freshman.
Newman was supposed to come into to Starkville and be an elite scorer at the point guard position. That never materialized, while playing out of position mainly at the two and three spots, Newman averaged just 11.3 points per game, and had almost as many turnovers (54) as he did assists (63).
Various injuries including a turf toe in the preseason, multiple cramps, back spasms, knee problems. All of those more than likely played into Newman's lackluster shooting percentages (39.1/37.9/68.7), thus resulting in the Bulldogs putting up a mere 14-17 record.
The Jackson native, formerly a top target by both Kentucky and Kansas, had previously declared for the NBA draft. However, he has yet to sign an agent, and now being looked at as a second-round draft pick after previously being a projected lottery pick; all signs point to Newman coming back to school, just not at Mississippi State.
Newman had his frustrations with the MSU program really ever since he got there. He expressed his frustration with Bulldog's head coach Ben Howland for having him play out of position, and now it is looking like the former five-star recruit will be transferring to another D-1 program, according to ESPN's Jeff Goodman.
Newman was part of well-known list of prospects whose draft stock took major hits after committing to struggling teams. While having the talent will get you far, not being able to win will absolutely kill your chances. When the struggles keep piling on and frustrations build, there's just not much more a young kid like Newman can do.
If he does transfer, Newman will have to sit out the 2016-2017 season.