College Commitment – Kobe Newton (2019 Westview/Fullerton-CA)
There’s more than one way to get to the Division I level. Kobe Newton is proof positive of that. It’s been quite the journey since he graduated from Westview High School in 2019, but four years later with a California JUCO title in hand, the 6-foot-2 guard is off to continue his college career both on and off the court having committed to the University of Wyoming this week.
“Coach (Jeff) Linder in one of the brightest basketball minds in the country, the opportunity to play for him, and learn from him was one I simply couldn’t turn down,” Newton said. “The resources/facilities are in place to help me succeed and achieve my end goal of playing professionally one day. Academically they already had a set plan for me to be successful and walk out of there with my degree!”
Newton made the commitment to the Cowboys after making an official visit to campus. The fit for him included how he’ll be used on the basketball court and he already knows how he’ll be preparing himself for that role.
“Well they shoot a lot of threes in their offense, coach Linder teams are consistently top ten in the country threes attempted per game, so my ability to shoot and handle the ball will gel well,” Newton said. “The biggest aspect I’ll be working on is my strength and conditioning this off season, being at 7 thousand feet elevation will challenge my shape more than ever so I must do the best I can to be ready for that.”
If you missed Newton after he left Westview, he’s been around a little. The first stop was to Dodge City Community College in Kansas, where his season was cut short due to injury. From there, he transferred back to the West Coast and Fullerton College, where he’s thrived the past couple of years. As a redshirt freshman in 2021-22, he immediately made an impact averaging 13.3 points and shooting over 38 percent from three, and then this past season he continued to shine by leading the team in scoring at 13.7 points and shooting once again just under 39 percent from distance.
Newton’s JC career concluded with a championship as his team-high 25 points helped propel Fullerton to the CCCAA title. Now as he heads off to Laramie, how he got to this point certainly hasn’t been lost on him.
“Everybody’s path is different – some get there right away, some are highly touted since middle/high school,” Newton said. “The only thing I focused on was to keep working, I tried not to worry about anything or anyone else along the way and to just continue to put in work every single day, took me longer than most to get to where I’m headed, but I’ll forever be grateful for all the adversity, all the doubt, and all the bumps that occurred along the way that shaped me into the player and person I am today.”
Our congratulations go out to Newton and his family on his decision.