Did DJ Newbill do Southern Miss dirty?

From the outside, you'd think that the Southern Mississippi fan base and administration would be mad at DJ Newbill.

Newbill had a terrific freshman campaign, averaging 9.2 ppg and 6.2 rpg for the Golden Eagles as a 6'4", 205 lb guard. Newbill, who was without a scholarship as late as mid-July in 2010, started all 32 games and played over 30 mpg. Not bad for a late-addition to your program.

But Newbill will not be finishing his career at Southern Mississippi. He announced earlier this week that he would be transferring to Penn State and new head coach Pat Chambers to finish out his career, sitting out the 2011-2012 season per transfer rules.

"D.J. will make an immediate impact on our program with his toughness, basketball IQ and work ethic," Chambers said in a statement. "It's great to get a Philadelphia kid that is passionate about Penn State basketball and wants to be here. We are very confident he will show that a Philadelphia player can have great success and an outstanding career at Penn State."


Like I said, its easy for USM to be mad at Newbill. Here's a kid that was given a chance by Larry Eustachy that jumped ship to a bigger program after one successful season and just 32 games with the Golden Eagles. From the surface, it looks like Newbill is ungrateful, that he's just another spoiled, selfish athlete out to get his.

Saying that ignores the reason that Newbill was forced to go to Southern Miss in the first place.

Back in March of 2010, Newbill -- a Philly native -- signed with Marquette. He called it his dream school. But three months later, when a former top 100 recruit and Wisconsin native named Jamil Wilson decided he wanted to return home to finished out his collegiate career, Buzz Williams needed a scholarship. Newbill, who had signed a Letter of Intent, was the one on the chopping block. Marquette used some cover story about Newbill's academics and cut ties.

Now, as I explained in detail in this post from a year ago, I don't necessarily have a problem with Newbill being cut. It happens. What I do have a problem with is the LOI system that locks a player into a school but allows the school to drop the player when someone better comes along.

Newbill got screwed by the system.

For a Philly native that had chosen to go to college in the state of Wisconsin, I think its safe to say that attending college in Hattiesburg, MS, was not exactly his first choice. But at the time, he didn't exactly have many options. Eustachy offered him a lifeline, if you will; an opportunity to continue his education while playing a high-level of collegiate basketball.

Newbill took advantage of that opportunity, but with a chance to return to his native Pennsylvania, play for a guy that cut his teeth in Philly in Chambers, and get the exposure that the Big Ten brings, it only makes sense Newbill made the jump.

Did Southern Miss get screwed? Probably. Did they get taken advantage of? I'm sure some can make that argument, and I wouldn't necessarily disagree.

But can you really be mad at Newbill? If it wasn't for the hypocrisy of the LOI program, he never would have been in that position.
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POSTERIZED: UTEP decides not to box-out DJ Newbill

Third-place Southern Mississippi got a much-needed C-USA victory against second-place UTEP last night 64-51. The Golden Eagles moved to 8-4 in the conference and the Miners dropped to 7-3. Both teams still sit behind 8-3 Memphis in the standings.

The game was close throughout the first half, but So. Miss outscored UTEP by 16-points in the second-half. One of the reasons was because of second-chance points.

Southern Miss-freshman DJ Newbill finished with 15-points and 16-rebounds to record his sixth double-double of the season.



It's a shame they don't keep statistics for style points, because Newbill may very well have logged a triple-double.

But was it as good as one of these?:

POSTERIZED - Scotty Hopson, Tennessee
POSTERIZED - Justin Brownlee, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Tyrone Johnson
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Ross, Washington
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Andre Roberson, Colorado
POSTERIZED - Durrell Summers, Michigan State
POSTERIZED - Phillip McDonald, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Kyle Kuric, Louisville
POSTERIZED - Anthony Nelson, Niagara
POSTERIZED - Cory Joseph, Texas
POSTERIZED - Will Sheehey, Indiana
POSTERIZED - Tom Pritchard, Indiana
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - John Holland, Boston
POSTERIZED - Keith Gabriel, VMI
POSTERIZED - Travis McKie, Wake Forest
POSTERIZED - Jefferson Mason, Minnesota State (D-II)
POSTERIZED - Tyler Johnson, Fresno State
POSTERIZED - Justin Williams, UNC-Ashville
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Hollis Thompson, Georgetown
POSTERIZED - Darnell Wilks, Cincinnati
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette
POSTERIZED - Darrius Garrett, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Travis Cohn, Jacksonville
POSTERIZED - Ramon Galloway, South Carolina
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Ashville
POSTERIZED - Kevin Smith, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Mitchell Watt, Buffalo
POSTERIZED - Chandler Parsons, Florida
POSTERIZED - Kenny Gabriel, Auburn
POSTERIZED - Paris Horne, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Laurence Bowers, Missouri
POSTERIZED - Drew Gordon, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Tony Mitchell, Alabama
POSTERIZED - Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt
POSTERIZED - LaMarcus Reed, UT-Arlington
POSTERIZED - Marcus Morris, Kansas
POSTERIZED - Jared Cunningham, Oregon State
POSTERIZED - Langston Morris-Walker
POSTERIZED - Chris Wright and Juwan Staten, Dayton
POSTERIZED - D.J Stephens, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Reeves Nelson, UCLA
POSTERIZED - Kendall Marshall and John Henson, UNC
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Joe Jackson, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Kent Bazemore, Old Dominion
POSTERIZED - CJ Fair, Syracuse
POSTERIZED - LeBryan Nash
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Marcus Jordan, Central Florida
POSTERIZED - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
POSTERIZED - Tai Wesley, Utah State
POSTERIZED - Trent Lockett, Arizona State, and Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Brandon Paul, Illinois
POSTERIZED - Jordan Hamilton, Texas
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Good news for DJ Newbill

You'll probably read DJ Newbill's name on this site more times this summer than throughout his entire collegiate career.

If you remember, Newbill is the kid that got the boot from Buzz Williams and Marquette when Jamil Wilson decided he wanted to transfer back to the state of Wisconsin. Since a 6'7" former top 100 recruit is more desirable than a 6'3" combo guard, Newbill was shown the door.

Regardless of your feelings on Marquette's decision (you can find ours here), I think we all hoped that Newbill, who hadn't done anything wrong, would be able to land on his feet.

Well, he has.

Newbill announced he will be headed to Southern Mississippi yesterday. According to the Philly Inquirer article that broke the news, Newbill will compete immediately for a starting spot with the team. Southern Miss is expected to be fairly decent this year as well, competing for that second spot in C-USA behind Memphis.

Newbill won't be alone in heading down to Hattiesburg either. Dwayne Davis, who graduated high school in Philly and committed to Morehead State but never gained eligibility, is a buddy of Newbill's and will be joining him there.

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LOI's back in the news, this time featuring DePaul and Marquette

The NCAA is far from a perfect organization, and there are quite a few issues I have with the way it is run.

But nothing, NOTHING, gets me angrier than when talking about LOI's. (If you don't know what an LOI is, go here and read this.) Essentially, an LOI is a legal, binding agreement that a player signs in order to end the recruiting process. By signing the LOI, he is locked into going to that school.

Generally, they aren't a huge problem. For the most part, if a kid is sure enough in his decision on where to go to school to put a pen to paper, then he is probably going to end up at that school. The problems arise when there is a drastic change at the school. As much as the NCAA wants to deny it, college basketball players -- especially those at the big time schools -- aren't picking their universities based on the Economics Department or on their Med School. They pick schools based on what coach they want to play for. Does the coach's system fit the player's style of play? Can the player and the coach effectively communicate? Can that coach turn the player into a professional?

The NCAA won't allow a player out of the LOI just because a coach has changed schools because they believe the player should be selecting where he will play his college ball based on the perks of the school itself. It is why kids like DePaul's Walter Pitchford, Jr., are forced to go to a school they don't want to attend. Pitchford committed to and sign an LOI with DePaul when Jerry Wainwright was still in charge of the program. Now that Oliver Purnell is running the show, Pitchford wants out, but the school and the coach won't grant him a release.

Pitchford has taken his appeal to the NCAA, but they won't be able to look at the case for 30 days. It is looking more and more likely that Pitchford is going to be a Blue Demon in the fall, whether he wants to be or not.

I vehemently disagree with the way that the NCAA handles LOI's in situations like this, but I understand. This is the rule. If a player has signed this contract with the university with the understanding that he will be locked in at the school, then can that player complain when the worst case scenario (which he should have fully been aware of) happens? And whether or not the rules are fair, and regardless of whether you agree with them, you still have to play by the rules.

But why don't the schools? Warning: If Pitchford's plight angered you, you may want to take a deep breath or smoke a cigarette before reading on.

DJ Newbill is a combo guard out of Philly who, three months ago, signed with Marquette, which he called his "dream school." Everything was going great, until Wisconsin native and former top 100 recruit Jamil Wilson decided he wanted to transfer out of Oregon. All of a sudden, Marquette needed a roster spot and a scholarship, and Newbill was the one on the chopping block.

Newbill's AAU coach Larry Waiters said that the reason for Newbill being released was because his high school had not yet sent some minor paperwork to Marquette, which is a thinly veiled way of saying "6'7" former top 100 recruits are more important than under the radar combo guards." Newbill should be able to land on his feet, as a number of D1 schools have already inquired. But Newbill will never be able to play in the Big East which, as a Philly native, has got to sting.

Now, I understand that college sports is competitive. It is cutthroat. The "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" mentality that sports fans have has put a ton of pressure on coaches to win and win now. As a result, these coaches are forced to do some things that, morally, leave a bad taste in our mouths. But hey, that is the price of winning. That's what we as fans demand, right? We've made our bed, now we have to sleep in it.

To be perfecty honest, I don't have a problem with what Williams did. Simply put, Newbill got cut. It happens all the time, in every sport, at every age group. Once you get to a level where athletics in more than your hometown's rec league, it gets competitive. If you're not good enough, you won't make the team. That is how it works, and Newbill found out the hard way. And if he was "cut" for a player that averaged 4.7 ppg and 3.2 rpg for a bad Oregon team in a worse Pac-10 while starting 14 games and still has to sit out a year, I think we can assume that Newbill's impact at Marquette would have been negligible. Would he have even seen time this season? Darius Johnson-Odom, Vander Blue, and Junior Cadougan is one heck of a backcourt.

No, my problem isn't with Buzz Williams. I don't think he did anything wrong, ethically, morally, or legally. This is big time college basketball, and while I feel for Newbill (I've been in his shoes before, it sucks), he's a D1 athlete. He's a big boy. He can handle this.

My problem is with the LOI's, as usual.

Marquette is free to drop DJ Newbill because a better player comes along, but Walter Pitchford is forced to attend DePaul when that situation turned sour? How is that fair?

It seems like a constant. College athletes, especially those that play the revenue sports at a big time level, are always going to be taken advantage of. They are the ones that generate the massive sums of money that nearly destroyed the Big XII and almost blew the NCAA Tournament up to 96 teams. We've all heard the ex-players comparing college athletics to slavery, and while that is a bit extreme, its not all that far off.

LOI's are exhibit A.

Hopefully, the press Pitchford and Newbill have gotten will be a warning. So all you high school stars, runners, AAU coaches, handlers, and agents take notice -- don't sign an LOI. Give yourself options. Financial Aid Agreements lock in the school, but don't contractually bind the athlete. That's the route you want to take.

One day, you may thank me for that advice.
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