NEW YORK – At some point early last season, UConn point guard Tristen Newton and walk-on Andre Johnson Jr. didn’t like what they were doing in the pregame handshake lines and were trying to think of something different.
Johnson came up with the idea for Newton to convert his hand into an imaginary telephone, thumb and pinky finger extended, and place it up to his ear.
For awhile, whenever Newton would call his own number and sink a 3, he’d pick up his phone and look over at Johnson, who was usually on the other end of the call from the bench. The phone lines were busy during UConn’s championship run as Newton continued to push his range – he made seven 3s over the six tournament games, sinking one from the half-court March Madness logo in the Sweet 16 against Arkansas.
“I like to be calm, this was out of the ordinary for me,” Newton said, noting that he never had a signature celebration during his three years at East Carolina. “My mom was surprised when I started doing stuff like that.”
The phone rang again in the first half of the national championship game, when he led the team with 19 points and added 10 rebounds against San Diego State – his cousin, Green Bay Packers running back Aaron Jones, even joined the celebration from the stands.
Then, just a few weeks later, the telephone emoji was trending among the UConn fanbase.
For about a month between when Newton declared for the NBA Draft and eventually decided to return, there were phones under just about every social media post from him or the team. “I saw pretty much all of them, I get them sent to me a lot in my DMs,” he said.
This year, with highly-touted freshman point guard Stephon Castle coming in to alleviate some of the ball handling duties, Newton could run up his phone bill as a scorer.
“I was very inconsistent (last season),” Newton said after shooting a career-best 36.6% from beyond the arc. “I got a lot more confidence toward the end of the year, I saw a stat like the last 16 games I shot 42%. I’m very confident now so I feel like that percentage will go up a lot this year.”
Clingan gives foot update: Donovan Clingan, set to lead the UConn men’s basketball team from the center position, wore a large gray boot on his right foot at Big East Media Day, complimenting the blue suit, blue tie combo that he may or may not have copied from roommate Alex Karaban.
Clingan is working his way back from a foot strain he suffered in a September practice.
“Foot’s feeling good, rehab has been going well,” he said. “Just staying in the training room every day for hours it feels like, but I’m just trying to get back on the court as soon as possible.”
He says he has a doctor’s appointment later this week and will see where the timeline goes from there. The team remains hopeful that Clingan will be ready for the Nov. 6 season-opener, but is being cautious with his return.
MSG loss still stings: The last time the Huskies on the court at Madison Square Garden they walked off disappointed after a 70-68 loss to Marquette in the Big East Tournament semifinal.
“The last time I was in here I didn’t win,” head coach Dan Hurley said. “That was probably the first thing I thought about.”
That loss, on March 10, a week before UConn’s NCAA Tournament run began, marked the third consecutive year Hurley and the Huskies were ousted from the conference tournament in the second round. UConn hasn’t made an appearance in the Big East Tournament championship game since rejoining the league in 2020-21.
“That Big East Tournament loss kind of still stings even walking in here,” Hurley said. “It’s like kind of eating away a little bit at the left side of my rib cage right here. (Something) like that definitely drives you, having the type of celebration that we had in Houston, having that here in the Big Apple where our fans are desperate for it and we’re obviously desperate for it. That’s something that’s definitely in the back of our mind.”
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