2/6/2023 basketball Edit

Jakai Newton Playing With Extra Motivation After his Return From Injury

Alec Lasley • TheHoosier

Senior Writer

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Indiana 2023 signee Jakai Newton returned to the floor for the first time in nine months on Friday night helping Newton (Ga.) to a win. He had 12 points in his return to the floor.

Newton had missed the majority of AAU season and the first few months of his senior year due to a knee injury.

"It felt good. I'm just blessed to be back hooping," Newton told TheHoosier.com. "It's been a long process of rehabbing and just trying to stay positive mentally. Still have to get my feel for the game back but that'll come with time."

Newton is 15-7 overall and 7-1 in their region making them one of the top teams in the conference.

While his feel for the game will come back with time, Newton saw a lot of growth from himself mentally and maturity wise while off the floor. His time away allowed for reflection and gaining a different perspective.

"It was tough, knowing how I hurt it -- doing a regular layup something I do 20 times a game. Knowing that's why I was out. But, it's helped me," Newton said. "Thinking about things outside of just basketball, spending more time with family . . . there have been some blessings but there's nothing like hooping.

"The biggest thing is reflecting a lot. We hoop like all year long, we never get time to just sit and think about what we've done. So thinking about losing in the final four (last year with Newton), going into AAU and playing in just one tournament. Just gave me a lot of time to think about coming back and playing with some patience while still playing super hard. But gave me a different perspective on the game."

Indiana signee Jakai Newton is back on the floor after nine months off with an injury. (Colin Hubbard / Scorebooklive.com) (Colin Hubbard / Scorebooklive.com)

Newton is a 6-foot-4 combo guard. He can play both on and off of the ball, with his athleticism standing out first. He's become a terrific two-way player, but now Newton is ready for the next step in his development.

"Next step for me is to show more all-around game," Newton said. "Everyone knows I'm super athletic and can get to the rim . . . (I need to) be more calm, be more poised and run the point a bit more so people can see more of my game."

Part of that development is becoming more of a leader and doing so vocally.

"I need to be more vocal. My type of leadership is do the right thing and have people watch and learn from it," Newton described. "I haven't been much of a talker and go out and tell people to do. So I come in, get my work in and show everyone and hope they follow."

Newton is part of a two-man recruiting class for Indiana with four-star guard Gabe Cupps. Both players are looking to make an immediate impact when they arrive in Bloomington this summer.

"Right away we want to come in and make an immediate impact," Newton said. "Me and Gabe are two high energy players so to come in and be a spark and bring a different type of energy to the team and something the team can feed on."

Last year as a junior, Newton averaged 14.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He is ranked as the No. 63 overall player in the Rivals150 class of 2023 rankings. He's rated as the No. 12 overall shooting guard.

Before he gets to Bloomington, however, he's looking to close out his high school career on a high note, with the same motivation he's always had, but a little bit more of a chip on his shoulder now.

"Just looking back on it, I'm going to be happy to say that I gave it my all," Newton said of his high school career. "I have no regrets. I worked hard and never took any shortcuts and it all paid off for me.

"My motivation is that I just have a chance to make it and change my families life. I have a chance to do something. Thankful that God gave me this ability and I'm going to keep working on it and improving on it to improve my families life."

Newton takes on in-state rival and powerhouse Wheeler (Ga.) on Monday night at 7 pm ET on ESPNU. It will be a matchup of stars with Newton's backcourt duo of five-star guard and UConn signee Stephon Castle paired with Jakai Newton, going up against Wheeler's duo of No. 1 overall prospect and point guard Isaiah Collier and four-star forward Arrinten Page -- both signed to go to USC.