247sports.com’s Crystal Ball was right after all. Woody Newton announced Tuesday through his twitter page, the four-star forward  is committing to Syracuse.
The Next Chapter. I‚Äôm Headed To… pic.twitter.com/xFqf0nGNfL
— Woody Newton (@WNewton_23) May 28, 2019
Height: 6-8
Weight: 190
Position: PF
Hometown: Baltimore, MD (Mt. Zion Prep)
Ratings:
247Sports.com: 79
Rivals: 73
ESPN: NR
Other Offers: Xavier, Maryland, Penn State, Cincinnati, Arkansas, Kansas State, Virginia Tech
Nike EYBL Team: Team Takeover
EYBL Stats YTD: 5.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 47.1 FG%, 40% 3PT FG, 51.4% FT.
Strengths: Defense. Defense. Defense. Newton’s lanky, athletic frame allows him to guard multiple positions and stay with guards really well for his size. He called himself the best defender in the country this past weekend at the Nike EYBL tournament in Dallas, according to The Daily Orange.
Weaknesses: Creating his own shot. Newton has great size, quick feet and strong leaping ability. However, he still needs to develop his offensive game. He’s unpolished in terms of his post play and scores mostly close to the rim off nice feeds from his teammates. His shot has steadily improved and has potential, but still lacks consistency right now as evidence by the low free throw percentage, albeit at a small sample size of just 35 attempts.
Comparison: Under-developed Jerami Grant.
At around the same height as Grant and about 30 pounds less, their frames are similar, especially considering you’d think Newton will add some muscle by the time 2020 rolls around. When you look at Grant’s freshman year splits of 47/40/56 at Syracuse their awfully similar to Newton’s EYBL numbers now and shows it took Grant time to develop.
Grant was 37 on the ESPN100 in the 2012 class so he starts out with higher numbers, but the style of play one day could became very similar.
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