Tristen Newton received a “whole bunch” of phone calls when he entered his name into the transfer portal after three seasons at mid-major East Carolina University, during the last of which he averaged 17.7 points, 5 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game.
But a pair of FaceTime video calls from UConn stood out — one from associate head coach Kimani Young, another from head coach Dan Hurley — and with the program’s history of having great guards, and Hurley’s history of developing players, Newton felt like the team could compete for a national championship. He made his up his mind.
“I think that was pretty much one of the first things we said in the conversation,” Newton recalled Tuesday. “I came here, do what I have to do to make it to the Final Four and win a national championship. The fact that (the Final Four) was in Texas was also a big part of the conversation too, so just trying to get back there and win the whole thing.”
