The Ball State Daily News Online

Section: SPORTS
Originally published: 8/19/08 at 12:44 AM EST
Last update: 8/23/08 at 2:50 PM EST

Media Credit: Derick Brattain [Click to enlarge]

Anthony Newell heard his name announced in Worthen Arena and rose to his feet as applause from the crowd blanketed him in approval.

It's a scene Newell has become accustomed to during his past four years with Ball State's men's basketball team, but this occasion was significantly different.

Instead of sporting his basketball sneakers and No. 32 Cardinals jersey, Newell wore dress shoes with a black cap and gown. Instead of sprinting toward the hoop, he walked toward a platform on the floor.

Once he got to his destination, there were no teammates ready to feed him the basketball. Instead, he accepted his diploma, a trophy given only to those who receive their degree from the university.

Sitting in the crowd, Newell's mother, Doreen Newell, felt tears roll down her cheeks as she watched her son become the first from his family to graduate from college this summer. Of all the memorable moments Doreen Newell has seen her son experience playing on the Worthen Arena floor, she said none was sweeter than his walk across that platform.

"When I was sitting there, I don't think it came to me until he walked across the stage," she said. "That's when it hit me, how great it is and what an honor it is to have such a bright and intelligent son to graduate from college. There's no one in his family that graduated that could've told him about it. He just did it."

 

BUILDING A DREAM

 

Growing up in Chicago during the 1990s, it's predictable that Newell's favorite basketball player as a child was Michael Jordan.

Like most boys in his neighborhood, Newell envisioned wearing the red-and-black No. 23 jersey for his hometown Bulls when he played on his community's playground courts.

Newell's grandmother, Lenora Johnson, doesn't share her grandson's enthusiasm for basketball, but she recognized Jordan was a Superman figure to him. Johnson jumped at the opportunity to use her son's hero as a teaching example.

While Newell gaped at the on-court exploits of his hometown idol, his grandmother stressed that Jordan returned to North Carolina to finish his major in geography after entering the NBA.

Continued...

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