JULIAN NEWMAN: Class of 2020 Fifth Grader Playing HS Varsity Ball!!!

JULIAN NEWMAN: Class of 2020

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Written by: Prospect-Central

I first started playing the game of basketball in 5th grade.  I had nice handles, solid vision, and a wet jumper. By no means was I a basketball prodigy, but I'd like to think I had a little bit of game.  Could I have played high school varsity basketball when I was in 5th grade?  Two words, two syllables, HELL NO!!!  Then again, I wasn't a 4-foot, 5-inch point guard named Julian Newman.



As you can well imagine, a 5th grader playing varsity basketball is kind of a big deal, and in today's world of social media, Julian Newman's story is spreading across the internet at an alarming rate.  Before you question the legality of the situation, let me explain how Florida high school athletics work.

The Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body of Florida high school sports, but considering Julian plays for a tiny independent school (Downey Christian) outside the realm of the FHSAA's jurisdiction, everything is apparently kosher.  The only catch is he can't repeat a grade, or exceed four years of high school participation once he enters the 9th grade.

5th grader Julian Newman slicing through the D!!!

The boys basketball team at Downey Christian High School in Orlando, Florida will not be winning any national championships anytime soon, but that certainly shouldn't diminish Julian's accomplishments by any stretch of the imagination.  Not only is the 5th grader the starting point guard for Downey Christian, he's actually one of the best players on the team.

Jamie Newman is the head coach for Downey Christian and even though Julian is his son, that's not the reason why he's on the team.  According to Mr. Newman, Julian has been playing against older competition since he was three-years old, and he even dropped 91 points against middle school competition a couple months ago.  This led Mr. Newman to believe his son was ready to take his game to the next level, and judging by the 5th grader's statistics, I think he may be right.

In his first three games of varsity basketball, Julian Newman is averaging 12.7 ppg, 4.3 spg, and a team-leading 11.0 apg.  Those are more than respectable numbers for any high school basketball player, let alone a 5th grader.  Obviously it's too early to determine what type of player Julian Newman will become, but he clearly seems headed in the right direction.

Even though the Class of 2020 sounds more like a science fiction movie as opposed to the date when 5th grader's graduate high school, it still doesn't hurt to start paying attention to some of these baller's now.  Besides Julian, there are some other 5th grader's starting to make name's for themselves as well.  One player in particular to take a mental note of for the future, 5-foot, 10-inch Ohio native Shamar Marrow.  Without going into too much detail, the lefty has tremendous size and athleticism for his age, and has a chance to be a special player down the road.

Julian Newman certainly appears to be one of the better players in his class, but there's a lot of time before he graduates high school, and as we all know anything can happen between now and then.  Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg for the eleven-year old, but even if these are his glory days on the high school hardwood, at least he's going out in style!!!