Kansas’ Malik Newman to enter NBA Draft, hire agent

Malik Newman announced on Wednesday that he will be leaving Kansas to enter the NBA Draft. He also said he would hire an agent.

“I want to thank Coach Self and the coaching staff for giving me this opportunity to come to Kansas,” Newman said in a video about his decision. “I definitely want to thank my teammates. The journey with these guys has been nothing short of amazing. My two years here was everything that I asked for. My redshirt year, I had a chance to develop and Coach Self took me under his wing and really prepared me. This year I had a chance to come out and play and this was the plan, to try to put myself in position to chase my dream. I sat down and talked with Coach Self and my family and this is the best time to do it. With that being said, I’ll forego my junior year at Kansas and I will put my name in the NBA Draft and plan on signing with an agent.”

Newman began his college career at Mississippi State, averaging 11.3 points per game as a freshman. He then transferred to Kansas where he sat out a season. As a sophomore, he averaged 14.2 points and five rebounds per game on 46.3 percent shooting.

Newman was named Big 12 Championship Most Outstanding Player for his play in the conference tournament, as well as Most Outstanding Player in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. He shot incredibly well down the stretch and probably feels it’s a good time to take advantage of his elevated draft stock.