Tristen Newton's journey from El Paso to the brink of the NBA
2-time national champion is already among the greats from the Sun City
Even in the moment, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Five years later, it’s completely indefensible.
As a senior at Burges High School in El Paso, Texas, in 2018-19, Tristen Newton was setting scoring records and dazzling fans in the Sun City. He averaged 37.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.6 steals per game that season.
In January of 2019, he eclipsed 3,000 career points, an absolutely absurd number for any high school player and a mark that earned him the nickname “Mr. 3,000,” an homage to the Bernie Mac movie. And yet, very few college coaches seemed to be paying attention.
Maybe it was the perceived lack of competition; maybe it was El Paso’s isolation from the rest of the nation; or maybe it was just poor talent evaluation. Whatever it was, almost everyone missed on Newton in high school. During his incredible senior year, the hometown UTEP Miners not only never offered him a scholarship, but they also never came to see him play. New Mexico State - 45 minutes up the road - did pay Newton a visit, but that was about it. Kansas State and UTSA poked around some but didn’t bite. In college sports recruiting, someone always inevitably slips through the cracks and Newton certainly fit that bill.
Ultimately, it came down to a couple of small Division I programs and when Newton signed with East Carolina University in April of 2019, he moved to Greenville, N.C., with zero expectations and a lot to prove.
Almost immediately, he began proving everyone wrong. Newton played a big role for Joe Dooley’s Pirates as a true freshman, scoring 11 points per game, to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists, a stat-stuffing season that foreshadowed what was to come. When he drilled a corner three with just seconds remaining to beat SMU in January of 2020, it was clear he had what it took to truly excel at the Division I level.
Newton spent two more seasons at ECU, averaging 17.7 points per game in his final season there in 2021-22. When Dooley was fired after that season, Newton decided to look elsewhere. This time, though, he didn’t have a hard time getting noticed.
Almost every school in the country came calling for the 6’5, do-it-all point guard, including UTEP, now manned by a new head coach, Joe Golding. He pitched Newton on playing with his older brother, Jawaun, for the hometown team. But Newton had his pick of the litter and neither Newton sibling ended up picking the Miners.
After weighing a bevy of options, Newton settled on Dan Hurley and UConn in the spring of 2022. UConn had just been dispatched from the 2022 NCAA Tournament in the first round by New Mexico State, as Teddy Allen poured in 37 points in Buffalo, N.Y., to send the Huskies home. After the Borderland ended UConn’s season prematurely, Hurley turned to Newton - and, by proxy, the Borderland - to ensure it never happened again. Newton lived up to his end of the bargain, but it wasn’t without some growing pains at first.
Despite recording two triple-doubles, for a lot of his first season at UConn, Newton was perceived by some to be the team’s weak link and the worry was that he wasn’t a true point guard and would prevent the Huskies from completing their goal of winning a national championship. But as UConn reached the stretch run of the 2022-23 season, Newton hit his stride in a big way. Those worries went out the window. After a midseason swoon where UConn lost five out of six games in January, the Huskies got rolling, losing just two games in February and March and Newton’s consistency was a big reason why.
He had seven double-digit scoring games and 11 games of at least five assists. As the Huskies hit the NCAA Tournament, they really hit their stride. Newton led a streamlined UConn offense that ran arguably the best sets of any team in the nation. Jordan Hawkins and Adama Sanogo got most of the praise, but Newton quietly made sure many of the little things were taken care of. His “Call Me,” three-point celebration was born late in the season and became his calling card during March Madness. UConn rolled through its NCAA Tournament competition, advancing to the Championship Game by beating everyone by at least 15 points.
It was in the title game vs. San Diego State that Newton really stepped up. He poured in 19 points and 10 rebounds, adding four assists as the Huskies took down the Aztecs, 76-59 for their fifth national championship. Photos of Newton celebrating with his family, including his NFL running back cousin Aaron Jones, became some of the most shared photos from the championship run.
A quiet kid who enjoys his privacy, Newton worked quietly and diligently to be even better heading into his senior season in 2023-24. He knew his role would be even bigger with three different Huskies off to the NBA and he was ready to embrace the idea of being one of UConn’s go-to scorers, while also still being the steady point guard leading the way for the Huskies.
The signs were there early and often that Newton could be that guy. He had 23 points and 11 rebounds in a 20-point win over Indiana on Nov. 19; a triple-double vs. Manhattan on Nov. 24; 31 points in a close road loss to Kansas on Dec. 1; and another triple-double vs. Villanova in late February. Newton’s steady play in 2022-23 turned into the work of a star in 2023-24, as he put up 15.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 6.2 assists, all of which ranked either first or second on UConn’s roster.
Newton’s calm demeanor seemed to rub off on the rest of the Huskies as they stormed through the regular season campaign, hoping to become the first program since Florida in 2006 and 2007 to win back-to-back national championships. A child of the military, he’s never been one to care about who gets the credit, as long as the wins came. When the head of the operation feels that way, it puts pressure on everyone else to fall in line.
The Burges graduate led UConn to a 31-3 regular season and a sweep of the Big East regular season and conference tournament championships. In doing so, he was named a unanimous First Team All-American; it’s believed that he’s the first El Paso native to ever earn that honor as a top five player in all of college basketball. He was also given the Bob Cousy Award, handed out to the best point guard in college hoops; and was named the Associated Press’ Big East Player of the Year. But for all that hardware, it was clear none of it would mean much to Newton and the Huskies if they didn’t repeat as champions.
They were fantastic in the regular season, but Newton led them to an entirely different level in the NCAA Tournament. As the Big Dances’ top overall seed, UConn had tons of pressure on it to get the job done. Newton never let the Huskies waver. Much like they did in 2023, UConn stormed through the NCAA Tournament, winning every game by at least 14 points. Newton was fantastic; he scored in double-digits in five of UConn’s six March Madness games and added at least seven assists in four of their six wins.
It all came to a head in Newton’s final collegiate game, in the national title vs. Purdue. With UConn looking to repeat, Newton set the tone early and often, putting up 20 points, seven assist and five rebounds in the Huskies’ 75-60 win to clinch another national title. He earned NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors for his work, as UConn finished the year 37-3.
All told, Newton had one of the best college careers of any athlete to come out of El Paso ever has. Over the course of two seasons at UConn, Newton played in 79 games, starting 78 of them. He recorded four triple-doubles in his time with the Huskies, becoming the school’s all-time leader in the category; Mr. 3,000 became Mr. Triple-Double almost overnight. In the NCAA Tournament, Newton was 12-0 with a pair of national titles and all 12 of those wins came by a minimum of 13 points. It’s a domination not often seen in a sport where parity is so common. For his work in helping the Huskies to a pair of titles, he was inducted into the Huskies’ Ring of Honor, cementing him as one of the most decorated players in UConn history.
With his college career wrapped up, Newton has turned all of his attention towards pursuing a professional career. He’s a fringe NBA Draft prospect, with some mock drafts projecting him to be taken late in the second round, while others don’t think he’ll be selected at all. It’s a bit surprising given his resume and accolades as a collegiate player, but at age 23, NBA franchises may worry about his upside. The glass half-full flipside to that? He could step in and immediately help a team from day one, because he’s closer to a finished product.
Newton has been in Miami for the last couple of months working out three times per day. He participated at the NBA Combine in Chicago in mid-May and has held individual workouts for teams like the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs in recent days. Both teams could be in the market for a plug-and-play point guard and Newton hopes he can fit the bill. He’ll never be the most athletic player on the floor, but his size, defensive capabilities, intelligence and winning track record have to be appealing. He’s also been working hard to refine his jump shot ahead of the draft, which he will have to do in order to make it in the League.
If he’s selected in the 2024 NBA Draft, he would rise even higher up the list of the greatest men’s basketball players to ever come out of El Paso, if he’s not already at the top. UTEP has seen any number of players selected in the NBA Draft, like Tim Hardaway and Antonio Davis, but it has been decades since a player that attended and graduated high school in the Sun City reached the pinnacle of that mountain.
Depending on how Kenny Thomas’ status as an El Pasoan is evaluated - he went to Austin High School for three years before moving to Albuquerque, going to the University of New Mexico and getting drafted in the first round of the 1999 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets - it would be hard to argue that Newton isn’t the best Sun City hooper since Jim Forbes, if the Burges graduate is indeed selected in the NBA Draft. Since Thomas has retired to Albuquerque and appears to claim the city as his, Forbes and Newton might be safe here.
Forbes famously attended Bel Air High School and was highly recruited. He chose UTEP and played on the infamous 1972 United States Olympic team, then was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the fourth round of the 1974 NBA Draft. However, he never played in the league due to a bevy of injuries he suffered. On the women’s side of the aisle, Irvin High School graduate Kayla Thornton has carved out a very solid niche as an important role player for the New York Liberty in the WNBA.
Even if Newton isn’t selected, he’ll almost assuredly be a priority undrafted free agent signee, after which he’ll get a shot at NBA Summer League, then training camp to make a roster. If he goes undrafted, it seems likely that he would be signed to an NBA Two-Way contract, allowing him to play in both the G League and the NBA interchangeably. Any number of current every-day NBA players have taken that same route to build careers for themselves at the highest level of the game.
Newton has proven over the last five years that he won’t take no for an answer, that he can and will excel and find success no matter where he’s at or what hand he’s been dealt. He’s always been about the right things and has risen to places very few people ever thought was possible. If you’re betting on anyone to prove everyone wrong in the 2024 NBA Draft (June 26-27 in Brooklyn), Newton might be the pick to do it.
After all, he’s built an entire career on doing just that.