Chico Rage Alumni

Chico Rage Alumni

Where are they now?

Has one of your favorite Chico Rage players moved on? Want to know what they've been up to lately? Then you have come to the right place! This section of the website is dedicated to all of our alumni and will include personal updates, press clippings, photos, and videos of our alumni family.

American Players Overseas

Spotlight: Tyler Newton
Tyler Newton played for the Chico Rage this past spring and summer before returning Japan in August for his third season starring for the Rera Kamuy Hokkaido team of the JBL.

This time of year is busy for all NBA teams and certainly for anyone covering or following the NBA Draft. It’s no different for us at NetScouts as teams are coming to us for consultation on players, viewing our 1200 scouting reports from this past college season, and we are also hosting our International Basketball Exposure Camps around the country. We recently had our Northern California Exposure Camp in San Jose and had several quality players but one in particular stood out, Tyler Newton.

6′10 230 PF/SF excels in the pick/roll

or pick/pop game

TNewt is a guy we’ve known and worked with for a few years now but he has improved immensely since going to Japan two years ago and I think he’d be a steal for some NBA Summer Roster. He’s highly efficient, shoots 60% from the floor, had a 23 rebound game in our event, and really “gets it” mentally. You never know, maybe he earns an invite to vet camp but I guarantee you, he can play for one of the 24 or so teams in Vegas this July!

As a kid, Ty was a swimmer and water polo player who didn’t start playing basketball until he was a sophomore at John Burroughs HS in Burbank, CA a suburb of Los Angeles. He got cut from the varsity that year but kept working and ended up all everything by his senior season. After two years of JC ball he wound up at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. After a redshirt season, he helped the Tigers to back-to-back NCAA Tourney appearances earning All-Big West awards along the way. Then the journey began.

Bouncing around and chasing a dream

After his collegiate career was over, Tyler, much like every other basketball player, wanted to keep playing and he was just starting to develop considering he’d only played about 7 years worth of basketball. Over the past few years he’s played in places like Australia, Austria, France, and also played in the IBL (San Jose & Santa Barbara) and ABA (Hollywood) here in the states. Maybe your goal is the NBA, perhaps you just want to see the world and play as long as you can, but for the great majority of American basketball players, the journey includes many stops in places you never dreamt you’d be playing in crazy arenas with wild fans throwing coins at you or quiet gyms with nearly no fans at all. But, your playing ball and getting paid to do it so you keep going.

Rera Kamuy Hokkaido, Japan

Two years ago things took a positive turn in this journey, while attending a camp in Oregon, coaches from an upstart Japanese team saw him and offered a nice contract to join Jawad Williams (North Carolina) as the two Americans on their roster and he jumped. The past two years he’s been an All-Star in Japan’s JBL, was named to the Asia ABA All-Tournament team, and is one of the more popular non-Japanese players in the league.

Williams left after that first season and after a stint in Israel, a summer league appearance, and a series of 10-day contracts he landed on the Cavs roster through the end of the season, watching LeBron hit his game winning 3 versus the Magic from the end of the bench in street clothes. Sure Newton would like to play in the NBA some day as well or get a great offer from a EuroLeague team, heck, a workout for the Kings would be nice but Hokkaido has been a great spot for him, he loves where he’s playing, they treat him well and pay on time (which can be an issue in some places).

I still think an NBA team should pick him up for the Summer League. Due to his international experiences he knows the game, excels in the open set pick & roll or pick & pop game, he’ll play hard, he’s unselfish, he can pass, and he’ll help the young lottery pick succeed which is ultimately what the big squad wants. But that’s just my opinion and if things don’t work out he’ll most likely land back in Japan. One of the many American basketball vagabonds playing ball and loving every minute of it.

- Chris Denker

Tyler Newton's Wikipedia Page

Tyler Newton's College Profile (UOP)

Tyler Newton's JBL Profile

Chico Rage Basketball

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