John Newman III was the first commit of the Wes Miller era in Cincinnati. Bearcats' fans were very excited to see how Miller was going to revamp this Bearcats program back to its glory days.
The first thing Miller did was bring in Newman from Clemson. Newman is a former three-star recruit and top recruit in the state of North Carolina, so Bearcats fans couldn't wait to see Newman hit the hardwood. Not only did Miller think highly of Newman, but his entire coaching staff was pumped for the former ACC guard to join their program, including Miller's longtime assistant Mike Roberts.
"John has been a winner his whole career," he said of the 6-foot-5 wing. "He won at a high level in high school at Greensboro Day in North Carolina. He had excellent high school coaches. He won at a high level at Clemson, and he will continue to contribute to winning as he completes his career at Cincy."
Newman was ready to move on from Clemson after his junior year, where he started 40 games over three years and even completed his undergraduate degree. The skilled wing suffered an injury immediately before the COVID-19 shutdown, hampering his recovery process and eventually his third year at the school.
"I feel like things changed a lot [at Clemson]," Newman said. "At the end of my junior year, I got hurt, and I was averaging around 10 points as a sophomore in the ACC. That's pretty good."
Originally, Newman wasn't supposed to even be at UC, instead he was planning on going back to his hometown to play for Miller at UNCG. Things changed quickly as the young talented head coach garnered a new job at Cincinnati.
"I was going to come home to UNC Greensboro to play for Coach Wes. I had known Coach Wes since I was 13, so we were tight," Newman said. "I also won a state championship with his brother my freshman year. So originally, I was coming back home to play for him, but once he got the job here, he said 'come along' and it was no brainer for me."
The North Carolina native was a crucial part of the Bearcats last season. Newman started in 31 games and averaged 6.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and one steal per game. Newman can do it all: rebound, score, distribute the ball and lock up the opposing team's best offensive player.
Newman scored in double-figures nine times, had at least five rebounds in 15 games, recorded at least two steals nine times, and dished out at least three assists in 10 games. The former Clemson Tiger was the heart and soul of the Bearcats' defense. Newman led Cincinnati in steals with 32 and was second in defensive win shares.
"I don't think you can put a measure on John because he has that much importance to us," assistant coach Andre Morgan said. "He's reliable, he's consistent. He brings an aggressiveness to our team, it's kind of hard to even think about us not having him because he's so important to us. I don't even know how to really measure it, to be honest. He's our anchor."
Former Virginia Tech and Memphis wing, Landers Nolley II has known for years how much of a pest Newman is on defense. The two wings matched up against each other in 2019 when Newman was at Clemson and Nolley was at Virginia Tech. Nolley to this day hasn't forgot the defensive intensity Newman brought and is glad he is on his squad now.
"John is one of the best defenders I have ever played against, I don't know how he does it, but it's just him," Nolley said. "Since I was at Virginia Tech and watching him throughout the years when I left, and first went to Memphis, I was still watching him at Clemson. I was like I got to watch this dude just because of how he guarded and played against me. I had to see if he was doing it on a nightly basis against other people. For him to still be doing that on a nightly basis makes me glad he's on my team now."
Newman was a winner in high school, winning three state championships while at Greensboro Day, but he has yet to get any hardware in college. Newman would love to put another title in the trophy case at UC.
"Winning a title would be huge," Newman said. "I haven't gotten a ring in college; I won so much in high school. And I've wanted so desperately to have some kind of hardware in college. I wish I would have won earlier in my career. But I have a major opportunity as a leader and as a focal point of the team to get us where we need to be and to accomplish it. We want to win. We want to win the conference; we want to win a national title. It's my last year, and I know what it takes to do that, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
Newman has put a big focus on his health for the upcoming year, especially with bad injury luck the past two years. The talented wing's junior year at Clemson ended abruptly 22 games into the season after suffering an injury. Newman also played through a lingering injury his entire 2021-2022 campaign with the Bearcats. Coach Miller has helped Newman key in on staying healthy.
"Wes [Miller] inspires me to continue to try to get the best version of myself," Newman said. "What that looks like is treating your body right, eating and doing extra exercise, put the right foods in your body and making the right decisions off the floor. Doing all those things has resulted in me being healthier. I feel he [Miller] played a big role in my recovery. The mental aspect of what it takes to be great, are you willing to give up certain things to be great? He's [Miller] behind me 100 percent, and I appreciate that."
Not only does Newman love playing basketball in Cincinnati, he also loves the food and culture of the city.
"I've been in different places in the world, and Cincinnati has some of the best food. Skyline's great and I love Graeter's," Newman said. "I get a brownie sundae and I have the brownie warmed up at the bottom…it's fire. There are so many good places. You almost get overwhelmed with all the good options. Downtown, there's this place called Maplewood; they have the best breakfast. Their pancakes are the best pancakes I've had in my entire life."
The season is right around the corner, and Newman will be entering his last year of college hoops and can't wait to hit the ground running with his teammates.
"I'm looking forward to playing with my team. I think we have a very good team who can be special," Newman said. "We're really deep at a lot of different positions, were athletic, long and we gel well. Our coach knows how to get the most out of us. I think that's a good recipe for success. I'm excited for the year."
Cincinnati opens its season Monday at 7 p.m. against Chaminade inside Fifth Third Arena.
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