his Bison dropped an 88-80 decision to
Penn State, thanks largely to Newbill's 28-
point performance. "We just couldn't get
a stop," Paulson said. "I mean Newbill, he's
really good. I mean… he's just… that's what
great players do. He took over the game. It
wasn't like we weren't guarding him."
Facing a succession of opponents de-
termined to make anyone else do the heavy
li>ing for the Lions, Newbill has been
nearly unstoppable. As of mid-December,
he was leading the Big Ten with an average
of 21.9 points per game. He was ranked
ninth in the country, 15 spots higher than
the next power-conference player. Behind
a career-best 35-point eed Penn State's
record to 10-1, the team's best start since
the 1995-96 season.
Maybe even more impressive than New-
bill's numbers is the way he's been com-
piling them. He has been scoring via every
avenue imaginable – pull-up jumpers,
drives, perimeter shots, free throws. In
so doing, he has raised his 3-point per-
centage by 14 points from a year ago, while
his overall :eld goal percentage is up to
45.3. He's done all this while averaging
more minutes per game (38.3) than any
player in the Big Ten. In the Lions' dou-
ble-overtime loss to Charlotte, he played
the full 50 minutes.
This from a guy who was excluded
from ESPN's preseason list of the top
100 players in the country, despite earn-
ing second-team All-Big Ten honors as
a junior. His absence prompted Penn
State to start a viral campaign on Twitter
called "#NotTop100?" juxtaposed
against Newbill's beefy resume. He was
also left off of the Big Ten's preseason
All-Conference team – receiving a single
vote from media members – but his
scorching start has more than lived up
to the potential that head coach Patrick
Chambers saw in him.
"D.J. de:nitely is underrated, and I think
it's a good thing because that's going to
continue to make him hungry and really
get a>er it," Chambers said. "I think some
of these guys when they're preseason All-
American, preseason :rst-team, there's
an added pressure and added stress. I don't
think he needs that, so he doesn't feel that
added piece, which is a good thing.
"It's disappointing obviously for us be-
cause he deserves to at least be mentioned
in some of these top-100 or preseason
All-Big Ten [lists], but I think D.J. is OK
with it. He's secure with who he is, and
he's just going to go out and do what he
did last year."
Regardless of who's paying attention –
he was not among the 50 players recently
named to the Naismith Award watch list –
Newbill has gotten o< to a blistering start.
And the fact that he has done it all without
graduated All-Conference point guard Tim
Frazier by his side makes his accomplish-
ments that much more noteworthy.
Newbill's backcourt partner this season
is fellow Philadelphian Shep Garner, a
true freshman who has quickly established
himself at point. Newbill and Garner have
already developed a good chemistry. In
fact, although Newbill has not had to per-
form as many ball-handling duties as had
been expected before the season, his dis-
tribution is as good as Chambers has seen
it; as pro:cient as Newbill has been as a
scorer, he's also dishing out a team-high
3.0 assists per game.
"He's a humble guy. He does it quietly,
very e=ciently," Chambers said. "So yeah,
[other teams have] got to worry about D.J.
Newbill, but he's also dropping dimes,
making his teammates better, getting his
teammates involved.
"He's not really a sel:sh player. I would
say he's a sel;ess player. He's just being
Senior guard Kevin Montminy has
been selected as a nominee for the
2015 Allstate NABC and Good Works
Team, which was announced Dec. 3 by
the National Association of Basketball
Coaches, the Women's Basketball
Coaches Association and Allstate In-
surance Company.
There are 251 can-
didates among the
men's and women's
nominees.
The community
service award recog-
nizes student-ath-
letes who have
demonstrated a com-
mitment to enriching the lives of oth-
ers and contributing to the greater
good in their communities.
Montminy, a third-year walk-on
turned scholarship recipient this sea-
son, is the president of the Coaches vs.
Cancer student chapter at Penn State
and volunteers with Athletes Take Ac-
tion, teaching anti-bullying lessons at
local middle schools each month in
order to prevent and stop bullying.
As the basketball team's representa-
tive on the Student-Athlete Advisory
Board, the Penns Valley, Pa., resident
helped create and prepare holiday and
monthly gi>s for THON families, in-
cluding a variety of basketball items
and a scrapbook, as well as coordinat-
ing the team's responsibilities for ath-
lete hour and the pep rally for THON
2014.
Additionally, with a 4.0 grade-point
average in each of the past :ve semes-
ters, Montminy is a Big Ten Distin-
guished Scholar, Academic All-Big
Ten honoree and the team's Academic
Award recipient. He is a part of the
Schreyer Honors College and the
Smeal College of Business's MAAC
program, earning a bachelor's degree
in :nance and a master's in account-
ing.
College sports information directors
and basketball coaches across the
country nominated players who ex-
hibit exceptional leadership skills and
a commitment to volunteerism. From
the 158 NABC nominees and 93 WBCA
nominees, voting panels will select
two 10-member teams comprised of
:ve players from the NCAA Division I
level and :ve from NCAA Divisions II,
III and the NAIA. The :nal roster of 20
award recipients will be unveiled in
February.
Montminy earns Good Works nod
MONTMINY
