Former NC State target Malik Newman is transferring from Mississippi State

An interesting development and a somewhat odd situation: Malik Newman, who withdrew from the NBA Draft at the deadline, has opted to transfer from Mississippi State. That means he's pushing back his draft clock from 2017 to 2018 at the earliest, which is not something you will see often from a kid who was widely considered a one-and-done player heading into college.

Newman was a consensus five-star recruit out of high school and was the No. 8 overall player in the 2015 class. About three hundred coaches picked up their phones and called him after the news of his transfer became official. NC State was one of the schools recruiting Newman out of high school, and the Wolfpack was among his finalists. Kansas and Kentucky were in the mix along with some other SEC schools.

He ended up at Mississippi State at least in part because he was a legacy--his dad played there in the late 90s. (Additional note: we are all old. Good heavens.) But his brief stint at MSU didn't work out; his father said Monday that there were "trust issues" between Goodman and Ben Howland, who just completed his first season as the Bulldogs' head coach.

From Michael Bonner of The Clarion-Ledger, here are some remarks from his dad:

"I think maybe in the recruiting process of Malik going in and thinking he was going to play one way and he was playing another," Webster said. "Ben has to do whatever he thinks is right for his team. And who in the hell is going to question Ben? Ben, look at his resume. That doesn't mean he's a bad coach. It doesn't mean anyone is questioning him. It means the style of play just didn't fit Malik."

It's early and there's no indication where Newman might turn next, but I would absolutely expect NC State to be involved. Newman didn't have a great freshman season, but the talent and pedigree obviously are there. He's more combo guard than point-man, and he proved a good shooter from outside.

He could, hypothetically, play alongside a Markell Johnson in 2017-18. Newman doesn't cloud State' s recruiting at guard, is basically what I'm saying. State's going to need help after Dennis Smith and Terry Henderson exit and that gives the program a lot of playing time to sell.

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