Purdue basketball's Ethan Morton, Brandon Newman look to improve with international experience
WEST LAFAYETTE – Additional game experience.
International competition.
Those are just two of the potential benefits for Purdue’s Ethan Morton and Brandon Newman, both of whom will play for the East Coast All-Stars during a trip to Spain next month.
The 14-player group, which is coached by Utah Jazz assistant Alex Jenson, is scheduled to play three games against the best players from Spain’s Liga ACB, the top professional division in the country.
“It’s going to be cool,” said Morton, who played a key role in the Boilermakers taking down Texas in last year's NCAA tournament in Milwaukee. “It’s international basketball and you get to see the different side of the game. I did some 3x3 when I was in high school with FIBA you see how different the game can be.”
Both Morton and Newman will take on bigger roles for the Boilermakers this upcoming season and a chance to learn and develop outside of the regular summer routine with coach Matt Painter’s program should benefit the pair.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Newman said. “Excited to be in a new area, a place I’ve never been before and hopefully learn and come out with some victories.”
Morton’s versatility earned him minutes last season, playing the wing and also at the power forward spot. The junior from Pennsylvania will likely move around this season, seeing action at point guard and on the perimeter depending on lineup combinations and foul trouble.
The experience gained next month will be valuable, regardless of the position.
“Wherever I’m playing, it will be good just be out there and hopefully it translates back to here,” he said.
For Newman, the junior is trying to carve out a role on this year’s team. The Valparaiso graduate struggled to find consistent playing time last season but is in a position to grab a bigger role in 2022-23. Newman was in a numbers crunch last season with Jaden Ivey, Sasha Stefanovic and Morton and saw his playing time reduced throughout the year.
“I would assume they would put me in positions where I’ve been successful at Purdue,” Newman said. “That’s catching and shooting, running off screens, coming off dribble handoffs and things like that. And playing well on the defensive end and showing I can be an elite two-way player, that’s important to me.”
Other members of the East Coast All-Stars are Jaylen Blakes (Duke), Cinque Stephens (NYU), Jaden Bobbett (Middlebury), Allyn Breed (Providence), Shamir Bogues (Tarleton), KJ Simpson (Colorado), Logan Alters (California), JR Konieczny (Notre Dame), Jarrett Hensley (Cincinnati), Bennie Williams (Syracuse), and Raphael Castro (Providence).
The team will train at Columbia University on Aug. 1-2 before leaving for Barcelona. According to the press release, the East Coast All-Stars will follow in the footsteps of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team, which featured Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, with activities, time with some of the participants and the three games.
Mike Carmin covers Purdue sports for the Journal & Courier. Email mcarmin@gannett.com and follow on Twitter and Instagram @carmin_jc
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Purdue basketball: Ethan Morton, Brandon Newman look to improve with international experience
