D.J. Newbill is the CoBL 2014-15 College Preseason Player of the Year. Photo: Maddy Pryor
City of Basketball Love:
Without further ado, this year’s 2014-15 CoBL College Preseason Awards:
Preseason Player of the Year
D.J. Newbill, Sr., Penn State
You may be asking yourself something along the lines of, “D.J. Newbill? Is Penn State even good? Why would you vote for him when DeAndre Bembry is going to blow up this year?”
Because Newbill, who has seemingly gone under the national radar his entire collegiate career may be ready to produce one of the best individual seasons by a Penn Stater in years.
Newbill started his career at Southern Miss, where he averaged 9.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game his freshman year before transferring to Happy Valley. He was the first major “recruit” that head coach snagged from the Philadelphia area, following that up Team Philly alumnus Brandon Taylor , along with Pitt transfer John Johnson and redshirt sophomore Julian Moore. Newbill basically opened up the Philly pipeline.
He’s improved his game dramatically every year. His redshirt year proved to be crucial in his development considering his scoring average nearly doubled to 16.3 ppg as a redshirt sophomore while learning the point guard position on the fly as he carried the majority of the offense with Tim Frazier sidelined with an Achilles’ injury. Newbill upped his scoring average to 17.8 ppg last year while pulling in 4.9 rpg, though saw his assist numbers drop with Frazier back in the fold.
But Frazier is gone now, which means the offense is going to run through Newbill nearly every offensive possession. Freshman Shep Garner and JuCo transfer Devin Foster are the only point guards on the roster, though both are considered more combo guards than point guards.
The point is, Newbill will have the ball in his hands a lot, directing the offense and being the leader of this team. He added a consistent 3-point shot last year and improved his on-ball defense. He’s the second-leading returning Big Ten scorer behind Nebraska’s Terran Petteway. His assist numbers are sure to increase this year and his scoring numbers likely will as well being the first option on offense.
–Austin Lederman
via CoBL’s 2014-15 College Preseason Awards | City of Basketball Love.