ORLANDO, Fla. _ The statistics are staggering.
Julian Newman, a small sophomore guard at Downey Christian _ one of the smallest schools in Orlando _ is already playing his sixth season on varsity and has scored more points than any boys basketball player in Florida high school history.
He's averaging 31.4 points per game this season.
His free-throw percentage, 93.2 on 235 attempts, would rank third in the NCAA and third in the NBA � just behind J.J. Redick (93.5).
His 211 made 3-point shots are an average of 6.2 per game, well ahead of the 4.4 per game former First Academy standout and current college basketball leader Fletcher Magee is averaging for Wofford.
Then there's Julian's eighth-grade sister, Jaden, who first played high school ball as a third-grader. She puts him to shame with her average of 41.4 points per game. Jaden, who was on "The Queen Latifah Show" as a fourth-grader, made national news again when she scored 70 points and equaled a U.S. high school record with 17 made 3-point shots in a game last month.
But behind all those numbers on Downey's MaxPreps.com stat page are the shots the world doesn't see. The ones that probably count most for two tiny prodigies who, despite lacking the stature it typically takes to be basketball players, have become YouTube sensations.
Julian and Jaden make _ not take _ 500 practice shots each and every day.
That regimen includes 200 stationary shots from beyond the 3-point line and 100 more threes off the dribble, plus 100 floaters and 100 mid-range shots.
"Not almost every day. Every day," said their dad, Jamie Newman, Downey Christian's coach and a former Colonial High point guard.
He met and dated another former East Orlando point guard, Vivian Gonzalez of University High. They married while she served four years in the Navy and produced two basketball babies who dribbled before they drooled.
Julian, 16, and Jaden, 13, now pester their parents on what could be lazy Sunday afternoons to go get their shots in.
"When we travel, we find a court," Jamie said. "YMCAs all over the country."
On a cruise to the Bahamas, they found outdoor goals.
Most days start with 5:30 a.m. family strength and conditioning workouts at a local YMCA before mom rests up for her night shift with the U.S. Postal Service and dad and the kids head to Downey. Julian and Jaden say they can usually knock down their 500 shots in about 45 minutes during gym class at mid-day. Then team practice after school, dinner and a trip back to the little Downey gym for individual training sessions where they fine-tune flashy ball-handling skills.
There is no questioning the dedication. But the doubters, and there are many, question the validity of the eye-popping stats and scoff at the media attention.
