SAN ANTONIO – Horatio Webster, the father of Kansas guard Malik Newman, called his son in early March. He did not soften his tone or sugarcoat his point. He told Malik that it was a good thing that a school like Kansas had three seasons—regular season, conference tournament and NCAA tournament—because that meant Malik had two of those seasons left this year to fulfill the vast promise he had shown but never quite lived up to.
“A new season is starting, wassup?” Webster told his son. “You have to look in the mirror and get this together.”
Newman didn’t disagree, and before hanging up, he told his dad the same thing he always tells his dad.