Philadelphia Daily News:
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Penn State’s fall semester commences Monday, officially marking the culmination of a memorable summer for the Nittany Lions’ top men’s basketball player.
D.J. Newbill, the combo guard from North Philadelphia and Strawberry Mansion High, garnered opportunities this summer reserved for only the upper echelon of high school and collegiate players. They came in the span of a few weeks from late June to mid-July, and resulted in the chance to compete against the reigning NBA MVP and briefly as a teammate of the best player on the planet.
“Oh, man, it’s definitely been a breathtaking experience,” Newbill, a rising senior, said on a recent morning. “I really can’t find a word in the dictionary to describe my summer as a whole.”
Newbill, whose 17.8 points per game last season ranked second in the Big Ten, spent about 7 days combined competing in elite basketball camps, first at the Kevin Durant Skills Academy in Washington and then the LeBron James Skills Academy in Las Vegas.
Newbill’s performance in 2 1/2 days at Durant’s camp, which features the top 15 collegiate wing players, earned him a trip to the camp run by LeBron. In a somewhat off-the-cuff 5-on-5 drill consisting of three teams on the court at the same time, the 6-4 Newbill defended the 6-10 Durant on two possessions. Both culminated in post-up fadeaways, said Newbill, who added that he tried to body up Durant a bit.
How’d he do?
“He went 50 percent from the field,” Newbill said with a wide smile….
via PSU’s Newbill eager to share experiences he had with Durant, LeBron.