Jakai Newton has accomplished more than most in the world of basketball. 

On any given weekday, Newton dominated the courts at 1 Ram Way, earning a four-star designation out of high school. His work on the court allowed him to play collegiately at Indiana University for two seasons.

Last season, Newton decided to return closer to home, where he transferred to Georgia State University. There, he got to show his true potential to the Panther blue, even earning a spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 with a highlight block against the University of Georgia.

But Newton always knew he had a bigger purpose.

“Being away for two years, I was out of touch with things,” Newton said. “I had to call my folks every day to see what was going on. I was missing my family. But now I’ve been back home. So I’ve been able to make an impact on more people being closer to home.”

And with that, JN Elite Training was officially born. JN Elite Training is a multifaceted organization designed to give back to the community both on and off the court.

The first aspect deals with on-court training. Together with coaches Brandon Bailey and Anthony Williams, Newton provides training sessions to rising prospects as well as those who want to learn the fundamentals of basketball.

“We pretty much teach the philosophy that got me all the offers and everything that I’ve learned to help me through my journey to be successful,” Newton said.

Though the foundation is in its early days, Newton has already worked with names that Newton County basketball fans already know well. Those names include Christian Gatewood, the 2025-26 All-Cov News Boys Basketball MVP, and Matt Allen, a rising star for the YNG Dreamerz in the Overtime Elite league.

While the on-court component remains a vital part of the core of JN Elite Training, Newton is just as focused on what the foundation can do off the court as well.

One of Newton’s goals is to provide motivation to children via speaking engagements. He says that inspiration came from a time when he was a young kid and a Newton football player came to speak with him.

“Just him speaking to me, you know it stuck to me to this day,” Newton said. “To have someone that’s in a position I want to be in and be positive and give me encouragement — that never left me. So I try to pay that same thing forward to kids because I know that may stick with them.”

Recently, Newton spoke to kids at Porterdale Elementary alongside his Georgia State teammates Emmanuel Kavos and Christian Beam. He hopes to soon speak to kids at South Salem Elementary and other elementary schools across the county.

“It’s showing them [the kids] that it is possible to be from this area and to be able to go out and do things that you want to do,” Newton said.

One part of Newton’s message to the youth is battling through adversity. Newton has battled injuries throughout his career to the point where he’s missed significant time on the court.

Going from a Top 100 recruit with dozens of college offers to being unable to play took a toll on Newton. But he wants the next generation to know that it’s OK to feel down and build yourself back up.

“Basketball, sports in general, and even just life, you deal with a lot of adversity,” Newton said. “Everybody expects things to go their way. If we all could have our perfect life, everybody would be happy. But life just doesn’t work like that. So you’ve got to learn to be flexible, learn to push through adversity, and at the end of the day it’s just part of life.”

In addition to speaking engagements, JN Elite will work with nonprofits in order to give back to those in need. 

Last year, Newton worked with Kennethia-McKibben Gay and the KD Strong Foundation to support the group’s “Kicks for a Cause” event. On that day, over 213 pairs of shoes were donated to kids ahead of the 2025-26 school year. Newton also provided a check for $500 to the foundation.

Newton plans to be in attendance at the second “Kicks for a Cause” event scheduled for Aug. 8. He plans to collaborate with his former teammate and best friend Stephon Castle, current standout for the San Antonio Spurs, to up the donations from last year.

Newton says he’ll also work with the Tishanna Foundation, which focuses on breast cancer awareness, and TELIC Empowerment, a resource center for children with special needs.

There’s a lot that Newton wishes to do with his life moving forward. He still has several years of basketball ahead of him, but he knows that, inevitably, he’ll have to hang up the shoes one day. 

Newton says he wants to go into real estate and maybe even look at coaching. But above all, he wants to make an impact through JN Elite that will last for generations.

“I see it being really big, especially in Covington,” Newton said. “Knowing the mission and the goal of giving back, I feel like it’ll be good and it’ll take off when I get to promoting and marketing it. And then also the goal is to keep doing these community events and impacting the community. I feel like what will  make my business different is it’s not just training. 

“I’m offering the skills that I learned that helped me, but also in the community as well, where we give back, free school supplies, free shoes, PlayStations, Xboxes, money and things that can really help kids and maybe make things a little easier for them.”