Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

Even though more than half of his field goals are 3-pointers, Iziah Sherman-Newsome of Anchorage doesn’t want to get labeled as a one-trick shooter.

Thing is, though, that’s his bread and butter.

The sophomore transfer with Laramie County CC in Wyoming is currently riding a hot streak after pumping in a season-high 23 points followed by a 19-point game.

“I think the success I’ve been having on the court is just a result of my teammates and coaches putting their trust in me,” he told me. “My teammates do a great job of finding me in good spots and the system our coaches put in lets everyone on the team play to their strengths.”

Sherman-Newsome, of Bartlett High fame, made 10-of-19 3s over the last two games to bump his season percentage to .408, tops on the team. Laramie County is shooting .337 as a group.

“There are drills that I do outside of practice to prepare for games. I think those extra shots always help,” he said.

“But the main key to my success has been because of my teammates and coaches trusting me and as a result I’ve been playing with a lot more confidence.”

Sherman-Newsome is averaging 11.6 points in 20 games this season. Of his 80 field goals, 51 are 3s.

The 6-foot-4 guard is also averaging 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists. All his stats have improved after a slow start.

He had struggled with his new team when he turned to his big bro Damon – a former all-league guard at Colgate now playing professionally in Spain.

“At the beginning of the season my brother didn’t think that I was playing my full game. He told me not to just settle for 3s all the time. It can be the focal point of my game, but figure out other ways to get involved as well,” Sherman-Newsome said.

“That advice really helped me and since then I have become a lot more consistent. Besides that we will text each other every so often to make sure we’re both focused and doing what we need to be doing on the court.”