Penn State redshirt junior guard D.J. Newbill has the potential to be an NBA draft pick. So everyone in and around State College, Pa. had better take a collective deep breath and make sure to calm down so no one goes into cardiac arrest.
Yes, I did write that Penn State guard D.J. Newbill could get drafted. It doesn’t make much sense to me, because all Penn State athletics is known for is football and the biggest sports scandal of all time. But it is true.
The Sports Bank’s main NBA Draft expert has Newbill, a Southern Mississippi transfer, getting picked in one of the last few spots in his NBA mock draft.
So far Newbill’s scoring average is 18 points per game, up from 16.3 points per game a season ago. And going into Friday’s game at St. John’s, Penn State is 5-1. Although the season is still very young, D.J. Newbill scored a season-high 23 points on Nov. 24 against Longwood. (No dirty jokes, please, but my mind was in the gutter on THAT one.)
D.J. Newbill also has decent size. He’s 6-feet, 4-inches and is about 205 pounds, so it seems like he could handle the rigors of an NBA season. D.J. has already proven that he can withstand the intensity of a Big Ten season, especially one where he was thrown into an unusual situation that no one really saw coming.
To wit: The big thing for Penn State basketball this season is whether or not D.J. Newbill will be able to coexist with guard (and BFF) Tim Frazier in the scoring department. It was reported that Penn State coach Patrick Chambers wants D.J. Newbill to be the Nittany Lions’ go-to guy on offense and take up most of the scoring, while Tim Frazier can become more of a “true point guard.” D.J. Newbill had to step into that point guard role last season because Tim Frazier tore an Achilles tendon in the fourth game of the season. Hence, Newbill’s unusual situation from a year ago.