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Fattal: Andy Newman’s humble, hard-working approach is what CSUN basketball has been longing for

April 26, 2023

When Cal State Northridge introduced Mark Gottfried as its head men’s basketball coach in March of 2018, it had a Hollywood feel to it. There was a formal press conference, flashing cameras and a buzz in the gym, but only because Gottfried’s presence made it feel like his drop from high-major college basketball was going to save the program.

It was pretentious. It was flashy. It was too much. It wasn’t CSUN.

On Monday night, first-year Director of Athletics Shawn Chin-Farrell beamed with pride as he introduced his new hire and hosted a meet and greet at Premier America Credit Union Arena.

No fluff. No flash. Just Andy Newman.

It was down to earth. It was community. It felt right. It was CSUN.

“We came from nothing,” Newman said. “I wanted to be a head coach really bad, so I bet on myself. I took the head coaching job at University of Texas Permian Basin (in 2013) for $52,000 a year. I taught driver’s training in Midland-Odessa, Texas so I could be a basketball coach. In a lot of ways, that’s still who I am. I’m a grinder.”

He couldn’t help but add: “Our gym at UTPB had stands on one side. The gym here at CSUN is like the Taj Mahal.”

Good turnout for the meet and greet of new Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach Andy Newman.

I’ll get a chance to chat with Newman a little later tonight. pic.twitter.com/K8pKSuSBZ3

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) April 25, 2023

The decade of big-name coaches like Reggie Theus, Mark Gottfried and Trent Johnson is over. Flashy names that were never seen at any San Fernando Valley high school games are gone. And a pledge to recruit local talent from a valley with 2 million people in it and from a pool of arguably the best high school basketball in the state is here.

“We have to get out to practices and games and build relationships with the local coaches. That will be the number one priority,” Newman said. “I do believe that once potential student-athletes in the Valley see what we’re doing here, they’re not going to want to leave. They’ll see they have a great option here to play in front of friends and family.”

Newman, 48, is a disciple of longtime college basketball coach Bob Burton, who had two successful stints at West Valley Community College and was the head coach at Cal State Fullerton from 2003 to 2012.

“When we think about basketball in the San Fernando Valley, we want people thinking about CSUN. When people in the San Jose area thought about basketball, they thought about West Valley College. It’s where all the best runs were, the best players were. When I was at Fullerton, we started getting that in Orange County. We want to build that reputation at CSUN. We want CSUN to be where good basketball is.”

New Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach Andy Newman (right) and first-year Director of Athletics Shawn Chin-Farrell address the crowd at Monday night’s meet and greet on April 24, 2023. (Photo courtesy of CSUN Athletics)

Newman was the lead assistant at Cal State Fullerton for 10 years (and was the interim head coach for one year in 2012-13) before going to Texas to coach Division II basketball at UTPB from 2013 to 2018. He then took his most recent post at Division II Cal State San Bernardino for the last five years, capping his time there with a trip to the NCAA Final Four this past season.

Newman, who holds a 206-98 overall record as a head coach, has led his teams to five NCAA Tournaments, and at every stop, he’s improved the program, recruited talent and won games.

“If you can recruit at the University of Texas Permian Basin, you can recruit anywhere,” Chin-Farrell said Monday night.

Newman also made sure to address what Matador basketball will look like while he’s at the helm.

“We’re going to play fast, with a lot of pace, and we’re going to score a lot of our points in transition,” he said.

Newman’s offenses have led each conference he’s coached in, in scoring and field goal percentage. All 10 years at Fullerton in the Big West Conference, all five years at UTPB in the Lone Star Conference, and each year at San Bernardino in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

Cal State Northridge men’s basketball coach Andy Newman says he’s bringing former Cal State Fullerton standout Bobby Brown on staff to head player development. Brown also played in the NBA.

— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) April 25, 2023

In less than 10 days on the job, Newman offered Northridge Heritage Christian sophomore wing Dillon Shaw last week. That gesture alone shows Newman knows what the community is thirsty for, which is a program it can get behind – a program it can identify with. A Big West championship isn’t going to come overnight, and neither is a five-loss season.

But change is coming, and Newman is going to bring the San Fernando Valley with him. Not leave it behind.

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