Kansas sophomore Malik Newman will declare for the NBA draft and said he plans to sign with an agent.
"I want to thank Coach Self and the coaching staff for giving me this opportunity to come to Kansas," Newman said in a statement. "I definitely want to thank my teammates. The journey with these guys has been nothing short of amazing. My two years here was everything that I asked for."
Multiple NBA executives told ESPN that Newman's stock rose as much as just about anyone's through the NCAA tournament and that he went from a mid- to late-second-rounder to someone who could crack the first round.
A 6-foot-2 guard, Newman averaged 24.5 points in four NCAA tourney games. He scored 32 in an Elite Eight win over Duke and played stellar defense against Blue Devils standout Grayson Allen.
"I sat down and talked with Coach Self and my family, and this is the best time to do it," Newman said in the statement.
Newman, a top-10 recruit coming out of high school in Mississippi, played his freshman season for Ben Howland at Mississippi State, averaging 11.3 points per game.
He and Howland didn't see eye-to-eye, however, and, after testing the NBA draft process, Newman decided to transfer. Newman sat out last season at Kansas and struggled for much of the regular season before thriving in the postseason.
Newman was the Big 12 Most Outstanding Player in leading the Jayhawks to the conference tournament title. Then he excelled in the NCAA tourney as KU advanced to the Final Four before losing to Villanova.
