All-conference running back from Charlotte Country Day transferring to Myers Park

Charlotte Country Day junior running back Tim Newman Jr. is transferring to Myers Park High School, his father told the Observer Saturday.

Tim Newman Sr. said his son had enrolled at Myers Park High and will be there for the first day of classes Monday.

Tim Newman Jr. has attended Charlotte Country Day since eighth grade and was taking classes at the private school last week. Newman also played in the Bucs’ first two football games of the season.

Newman ran for two touchdowns in the Bucs’ 54-14 win over Carolina Pride Friday. He’s twice been named a second-team all-conference pick in the Charlotte private-school league and was approaching 2,000 yards rushing for his career.

Newman, who is 5-foot-9 and 190 pounds, lives in the Myers Park district. His brother Jacob Newman is a freshman at Myers Park who has played on the varsity football team. His older sister Desiree Newman played on Myers Park’s girls basketball state championship team in 2014. She’s now a junior sports-management major at Western Carolina.

“Charlotte Country Day is a great school,” said Tim Newman Sr., a former All-American running back at Division II Johnson C. Smith who played briefly with the New York Jets. “They’ve got a first-class organization over there, and this is not related to Country Day. This is a family decision that we have made.”

Tim Newman Sr. said it’s been a hardship to have his kids playing at different schools and that it’s always been his dream for his two sons to play together. Myers Park coach Scott Chadwick acknowledged that Tim Newman Jr. had enrolled in school.

Myers Park (2-0) is No. 5 in the Observer’s Sweet 16 poll. The Mustangs, who beat Ardrey Kell 50-7 Friday, play at rival Providence Friday. Charlotte Country Day (1-1) plays at reigning N.C. 3A state champion Charlotte Catholic (1-1) Friday in the annual battle for the John Cook Cup. Catholic is ranked No. 7 in the Sweet 16.

Country Day coach Drew Witman told the Observer he was heartbroken over the news of Newman’s leaving.

“I’m devastated for the kid,” Country Day coach Drew Witman said. “He’s done a lot of stuff for Country Day. I love that kid to death. It’s emotional for me. This is hard. If this is being done because of publicity, then it’s being done for the wrong reason. But the fact that he’s leaving kills me. It breaks my heart.

“Tim has done a lot of things for this program. I want to be able to coach him and unfortunately, I can’t, but I know that he’s in good hands with (Myers Park coach) Scott (Chadwick) and that’s all that matters right now.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2018 at 9:05 PM.