Franchise Facilitator

Talvin Hester had plenty of choices of whom to take with him to Conference USA Media Day in Huntsville, Alabama in mid-October.

Isaiah Crawford was named the league’s Preseason Player of the Year after returning to full health from multiple ACL injuries. Dravon Mangum shot 37% from three the previous season and Jordan Crawford played over 30 games as a true freshman. Tech’s returners, as few as there might have been, had the credentials to join Hester to kick off the 2023-24 basketball season and set the tone alongside their coach.

But Hester went a different route.

He brought Sean Newman, Jr., a transfer point guard from Fullerton College, a 21-year-old redshirt sophomore who had never played basketball outside of California.

But it wasn’t the first time Hester picked Newman out of a crowd. After nine players left the Tech program following the 2022-23 season, the Bulldogs went scouting for talent to help get the team back on track. They needed a true leader, someone who could handle pressure and embrace the burden of leading on and off the floor.

The answer was Newman, as Hester and his staff officially signed him less than a month after the previous season ended in the Conference USA tournament.

Why did Hester make it a priority to sign Newman in early spring and why bring him to CUSA Media Day?

Hester likened it to an NFL franchise with the first overall pick. Tech had gotten its franchise player. No need to hide him on the bench.

“The same it would take for an NFL team to get a quarterback,” Hester said. “The point guard is the most valuable position on the floor. It’s a team leader. It’s a coach on the floor. It’s somebody you can trust is studying and learning the game — probably not as much as you but in a way they desire winning as much as you. He was a priority for us from the time we started recruiting him. He’s a floor general. He studies the game. You don’t worry about him in other areas. He goes to class. He’s very reliable. I always say his best ability is dependability. I can depend on him in any situation and I feel like he’ll be great.”

Through 18 games this season, Hester’s bet on Newman has paid off and delivered a stable spark to a Tech program that needed it after a 15-18 campaign.

Newman leads CUSA in assists per game (5.2) and ranks second in the league in total assists (78) with a 2.3 assist to turnover ratio.

If he keeps up this pace, Newman could become the first Bulldog to average at least 5 assists since DaQuan Bracey (5.8) in 2016-17.

The numbers on their own are one thing, but Newman’s delivered in some of the biggest games of Tech’s season, including Sunday’s 80-76 overtime win over Liberty when he scored six of his 14 total points in overtime to go with five assists.

His overtime heroics — a perfect 2-of-2 from the foul line and two drives to the rim through contact finishing in layups — came at the perfect moment. But for Newman, it was about delivering for his team after nearly getting down on himself with a bad turnover late in the fourth.

In the second half, Newman was 1-of-3 from the field with three turnovers. And as he walked to the bench after a late turnover with his head low for a moment, nearly giving Liberty a chance to take the lead, coaches and teammates, especially Daniel Batcho, reminded him why he’s trusted to respond.

As overtime began, Newman played without fear and rallied behind his team’s message.

“Batcho just told me, shoot it, I’m going to go get it. Going into overtime, I just started driving looking to be more aggressive and they just happened to go in,” Newman said of his connection with Batcho. “Our relationship is super close, super different. Before I even got here I was texting him every day and checking on him and making sure he’s good. When I got here I was always taking care of him and whatever he needed I was there for him. I took him back home for Christmas, so we’re family now.”

The late-game pep talk is a portion of the impact the two have had on each other since the season began, with Batcho benefitting from Newman’s awareness and Newman having the athletic weapons around him to make distributing the ball come easy.

Batcho leads CUSA in rebounds per game (10.2) and ranks third in scoring (14.9 average) on a league-best 56.6% shooting percentage. Isaiah Crawford has been able to stay in the player of the year discussion thanks to efficiency off teamwork with Newman, who’s helped Crawford average a career-best 15.2 points per game.

And just like when the starting quarterback goes down, Tech can feel drastically different without their leading man. Newman was forced to miss three games after suffering an ankle sprain against New Mexico on Nov. 29, leaving the Bulldogs to average just 10 assists per game.

He’d make his return in an 89-60 win over Southeastern on Dec. 12 without skipping a beat, putting up eight points, five assists and zero turnovers in just 20 minutes of action.

With 13 guaranteed games left in the season, Newman has 10 games of at least five assists this season, compared to Tech’s 2022-23 point guard Cobe Williams who finished with 10 for his entire final season with the program.

“It’s like having Tom Brady out there,” Hester said. “Even though your backup might be good, he ain’t Tom Brady. You get Tom Brady out there and the ball starts going around to receivers and guys actually understand they’re out there so they get a little more excited and start cutting a little harder. He just does a good job. He’s so steady and so solid.”

Newman, like any natural point guard, passed off credit after the game to team personnel for getting him back on the floor as quickly as possible “ It’s not just me,” Newman said. “Our athletic trainers, our coaching staff, they instilled confidence in me. And so did my teammates who believe and trust in me.”

One of the gems in Newman’s standout season thus far was his performance against Mc-Neese on Nov. 22 — a top-10 defense in the country in multiple categories and a program that’s won 10 straight games.

Newman was essential in the Bulldogs’ 71-62 signature win over the Cowboys with 11 points, a game-high 7 assists, and 5 rebounds, along with the game- ending steal with 27 seconds left. McNeese ranks sixth in the country in scoring defense (60.5 points per game), and eighth in steals per game (10.3). The Bulldogs, carried by Newman, finished with 15 assists in their best resume- building win so far.

“You just have to buy in,” Newman said. “If you want to win a championship, we have to buy into what the coaches are saying.”

As he sat in front of reporters after the win, Hester started off by sticking to the cliche of getting better every day and focusing on the next game. He praised his team for practicing hard and using a tough non-conference schedule to their advantage. But after some coach-speak and a run through the boxscore once-over, the second-year head coach of the Bulldogs was asked about Newman’s performance on a big stage against a potential NCAA Tournament foe — at the time his third game with at least five assists through five games.

Hester once again used the quarterback analogy to describe Newman’s impact, not just against McNeese, but a projection for the season and seasons to come.

“That is who we recruited,” Hester said. “Our number one goal in recruiting was to get, what we joke and say, a quarterback. We had to get somebody to lead our team and somebody who could play tough moments. “I don’t think he came out the entire second half and my coaches came to me and said, ‘Coach, he probably needs a breather and I said I’ll use my timeouts.’ At that point, he was in a groove. He was leading us. He was getting us organized. He was making the right plays. He’s a one-man press break, to be really honest. We’re glad we have him. The beauty of it is, he’s not even who he’s going to be as a player. He’s young. He’s a sophomore. I’m ready to see his growth over the next few years.”