"It feels great to be the first member of my family to get a college degree," Anthony Newell said. "My whole motivation was to be a role model for my younger brother, younger sister and younger cousins. I wanted to show them that anything is possible if you put your heart into it and work hard."
Newell, who redshirted in 2004-05 and is in his final year of eligibility in the 2008-09 season, earned All-Mid-American Conference Honorable Mention honors last season for the Cardinals. He finished second on the team in scoring (355 points) and third in rebounding (167), despite missing nine games due to injury.
If Newell had been healthy all season, both his scoring average (16.9) and rebounding average (8.0) would rank second in the league. He played in all 16 conference games for the Cardinals, averaging 16.8 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, to rank second and third in the league, respectively.
"We are all extremely proud of Anthony," head coach Billy Taylor said. "This is a terrific achievement that we as a program celebrate. We want to establish a learning environment both on and off the court, and this moment represents the culmination of those efforts. Anthony now proudly and successfully joins the ranks of other Ball State alumni."
Newell is one of four seniors on the team heading into the 2008-09 season and the most experience Cardinal having played in 73 career games with 42 career starts. He enters his senior season having scored 798 career points and notching 463 career rebounds.