From appearances on the Steve Harvey Show to the Ellen DeGeneres Show to Good Morning America, Julian Newman has been in the spotlight for his basketball skills since he was just 8 years old. That kind of clout has amassed him a massive following of fans from all sides of the spectrum. Newman, a 2020 point guard at Downey Christian (Orlando), has racked up millions of views on his highlight videos that show him breaking ankles and draining NBA threes in abundance. Now he’s agreed to give USA Today exclusive access into his world by chronicling everything from intimate details about his recruitment to his everyday life in a monthly blog.
Hey what’s up world! It’s Julian Newman and this is the first blog for me with USA TODAY. I’m just giving you a look into what my life is like day-to-day.
This spring and summer I’ve been focusing on working out and getting better. I’ve gone to a few camps, but mostly I’ve just been grinding.
I’ve always pretty much skipped the AAU scene and focused on individual work and that’s really elevated my game a lot. While most players are getting up like 30 shots in a weekend, I’m getting up thousands.
That’s not a knock to AAU or summer ball, but that’s just the route I’ve chosen to go.
I had a lot of offers from different AAU teams on the top circuits this spring and summer, but I just had to do what was best for me.
Next year I’ll probably get out there more because we’ll have our own team on one of the circuits.
I went to the Neo Youth Elite Camp recently and it was a great experience. It’s in Northeast Ohio and I definitely feel like I played well.
Everywhere I go I have guys trying to make a name off of me because of all of my videos, but I take that as a sign of respect. I would worry more if guys weren’t trying to come at me. Competition is part of the game and I love it.
I definitely get a lot of hate out there, but that comes with a lot of exposure.
I understand.
Ever since I was younger years old my basketball skills have put me on the Stever Harvey Show, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Good Morning America, the Rachel Ray show, the Queen Latifah Show and others.
Then I’ve played varsity ever since the fifth grade and everyone thought that was the craziest thing ever.
I take it all as love though because if you’re yelling things at me or hitting me up on social media talking crazy then I’m still winning.
I wouldn’t change anything about my process because it’s made me who I am.
My recruitment is going OK; Kansas and Florida reached out recently. I’ve also heard from UCF, USF and Miami too.
This summer the area of my game I’ve been working on the most is my pull-up. I’ve got a pull-up, but I want it to get better. I’m also working on my athleticism. That’s what I’m missing. I’m about 5-6 and I’m gonna just put this out there: I think I’ll be dunking by my senior year.
They’ll really be hating then. Haha!
I take this game seriously, but, honestly, I just play basketball because I love it and it’s fun. I feel absolutely no pressure at all. I keep everything fun.
I work hard, but I have a lot of fun too. People ask me if I feel more pressure to make it because I’ve had all of this exposure and I’m quick to tell them that I don’t at all.
Of course, I want to make it to the highest level and I believe that I will. I wouldn’t be the first small guard to make it and succeed and I’m confident in my abilities and skill-set.
I have a lot of confidence. People think I’m cocky, but they don’t understand what I go through to be where I’m at. They see a quick clip of me talking on the court and make their judgments.
I’m a dog on the court and I’m gonna compete against any and everybody, but off the court, I’m really humble and I don’t talk about basketball and what I’ve done at all.
I just feel like you’re not gonna tell me that I can’t do something because I’m small on the court. I think all of us smaller guys have that extra motivation to be great.
OK, so when I’m not playing basketball I do normal things like hang out with friends, go to the movies and I like to play golf too.
I went to Cedar Point with my guy Zion Harmon and my family and we had a ball.
If you haven’t been I would definitely recommend it.
Just like every kid my age I listen to a lot of music. I’m definitely listening to Drake’s new album. Most people don’t know this, but me and Drake have a cool relationship.
We text from time to time and stuff like that.
We got cool because he commented on one of my videos on Instagram and I DM’d him and said that I appreciated the love and he hit me back asking for my schedule and we’ve kept in touch ever since.
I think he’s gonna try and catch a game next season.
I also listen to A Boogie and Lil Baby too.
Before I go, I want people to know about the most important thing in my life and that’s my relationship with God. I know that I wouldn’t be anywhere without Him and I just give all glory to God.
OK guys that’s it for my first blog.
Me and my guy Zion are about to go check out the new movie “Uncle Drew” right now so I’m gonna get going.
Check back soon because I’ll be updating my blog a lot more going forward.
Take care.
Don’t forget to follow Julian Newman:
Twitter: @Julian_newman04
Instagram: juliannewman4
