Sept. 15, 2006

By Larry Vaught
As the administrative assistant for the Massachusetts basketball team, Austin Newton gets to coordinate ticket requests for team personnel. However, he already knows two games next season where there's no way he'll be able to meet the demand.

Massachusetts coach Travis Ford will bring his team to Louisville to play Dec. 12 and then return to the Bluegrass state for a game at Kentucky Dec. 22.

Newton is a former Campbellsville High School standout who averaged 21.3 points and 8.2 assists per game during the 2000-2001 season before going to Eastern Kentucky as a walk-on to play for Ford. He was a backup point guard on the 2005 NCAA Tournament team and when Ford got the head job at Massachusetts, Newton eventually followed him.

"My senior year I talked to him about coaching and maybe getting on at Eastern as a graduate assistant. Then he left for UMass. When he came back for our banquet, he asked me if I was still interested in coaching," Newton said. "I couldn't pass up this opportunity. It was too good to even think of turning down."

Newton's father, J. Paul Newton, owns Lee's Famous Recipe in Danville and is well known for his support of local sports team. He'll be able to get tickets when UMass comes to Louisville and Kentucky.

"I still have a lot of friends in Richmond, too. There will be a lot of ticket requests. The visiting team usually gets about 50 tickets. I doubt many of our players will have families come to Kentucky for the games, but the ticket requests, especially for coach Ford, will be tough," Newton said.

One person who will be able to get a ticket for either game if needed would be pro golfer J.B. Holmes, a Taylor County native and long-time friend of Newton and his family. In fact, Newton hopes to be at the U.S. Open at Mamaroneck, N.Y., this week to watch Holmes play at least one day. Newton's father was in California earlier this year when Holmes won his first tournament.

Newton expects UMass to have a solid team this year, one that could give Kentucky and Louisville both major problems. Not only does UMass return four starters, but it has four quality transfers eligible. That's one reason Ford is upgrading the schedule.

"We should have all the pieces to the puzzle," Newton said. "We lost only one senior, and he was a good player, but we really have some good transfers."

One is Gary Forbes from Virginia. "He's really good," Newton said. Former Syracuse signee Tiki Mayben is a "point guard who can take a team to the next level" from what Newton has seen. The other two transfers are Luke Bonner of West Virginia, the brother of former Florida star Matt Bonner, and Etienne Brower of Boston University. "Bonner is a 7-footer who can shoot and Brower is a very solid 6-7 kid," Newton said.

And don't forget that UMass returns two superb inside players in Rashaun Freeman and Stephane Lasme.

"We have two of the best big men in our conference back along with four good transfers. It should be a good year," Newton said.

Newton has been doing his part to help Ford prepare for the upcoming season. He's gone through every game from the 2005-2006 season and broke down every play for every player on videotape. It took him more than six weeks to complete that task.

"I gave each player a 40-minute tape of his whole season," said Newton, who is helping with camps this summer. "I mainly work with video stuff. I get the game tapes for our opponents and break down the film. Each game is assigned to one coach, but I get the tapes first and see what each team is running and what the players like to do. I break down the film, show the coach preparing the scouting report and we get a game plan. Then we both go to coach Ford and show him.

"It's a lot of long hours during the season, but I learn a lot. I probably watch more basketball than any of our coaches. I pick up a lot of new stuff that way."

Newton can't recruit, but he travels with the team and will be on the bench at both Kentucky and Louisville. He eventually would like to be a full-time Division I coach and appreciates the learning opportunity he has with Ford.

"He gave me the opportunity to play Division I and then he has given me a chance to be part of a Division I coaching staff. I could not ask for any more," Newton said. "I learn a lot from him every day. Playing for him and coaching under him, you see how smart he is. I'm lucky to be where I am."

Even if he does already know of at least two games next season where he'll run out of tickets way before he can come close to meeting the requests he'll have.