By: Gabe Maturo

Julian Newman is only 20 years old – but his basketball career has been a topic of worldwide interest for what feels like a lifetime.

As a 4-foot-7, 12-year old, he was starting varsity for his high school basketball team. He scored over 3,500 career points by the time he was a junior. He had gained national popularity before he even reached high school. 

Now, the social media influencer and basketball star has revealed his next chapter. Newman has signed to play with Team Challenge ALS in TBT 2022.

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Newman first took the world by storm as an 11-year old who started varsity basketball for Downey Christian School in Orlando, FL. The fifth-grader was moved up to the varsity level because he scored as many as 91 points in his middle school games. 

After being named a varsity starter, he began to put up numbers both on and off the court. Newman averaged 17 points per game as a 4-foot-7 point guard. Online, the 11-year old garnered national attention from national news sources and social media sites such as YouTube. 

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As he grew, so did his numbers. Newman finished with 6,247 career points, the most of any high schooler in Florida history. His 1,197 threes are first all-time nationwide.

Now, Newman is 20 years old, has over 700k followers on Instagram, and has his own reality TV show, Welcome to the Newmans.

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Since graduating as the state of Florida’s all-time leading scorer for prep high schools, the 5’7” point guard has been working on his craft and building his brand while waiting for a chance to play professionally.

“I am excited and blessed to be playing in TBT for a great team and cause, Team Challenge ALS,” said Newman. “I’ve been working with Darren (Collison), Sean (Marshall) and the whole Pro’s Vision staff for a couple years now, so it’s only fitting to be playing for them. I look forward to competing at a high level and bringing home a TBT Championship!” 

Newman will join fellow hooper and YouTube phenom D’Vontay Friga as the second social media influencer to play for Team Challenge ALS. Friga suited up for them last summer in the 2021 TBT.

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“As the GM of team Challenge ALS I couldn’t be more excited to add Julian Newman to our team this summer,” said GM Sean Marshall. “Having worked with Julian as a trainer, I’m excited for him to share his ability with all the TBT fans out there. Most importantly, Julian fits with the kind of person we recruit to bring awareness to this deadly disease.”

Will the young basketball star be able to prove himself against some of TBT’s best?

“We are excited to announce the signing of Julian Newman,” said father Jamie Newman. 

“As the prodigy has been dazzling the world for over 10 years with his tremendous basketball skills. He is the most watched basketball player on the planet on all levels (per Bleacher Report), and having him be a part of Challenge ALS and TBT will help us grow to a youthful audience and worldwide. Stay tuned as Julian will continue to dazzle the world and show everyone who pound-for-pound the most skillful baller on the planet is!”

“I hope everyone is ready for the excitement Julian will bring to the tournament this summer,” added Marshall. “Buckle up!”