Penn St. adds a Philly player

Penn State hired Pat Chambers away from Boston University in June partly because of his ability to attract Philadelphia-area players.

It took the former Newtown Square resident only two months to get his first one.

D.J. Newbill, a 6-foot-4 sophomore point guard, transferred from Southern Mississippi to Penn State on Friday.

The North Philly native was granted a release from his Golden Eagles scholarship four days earlier. He signed scholarship papers Friday, while visiting the State College campus, to play for the Nittany Lions.

"I chose Penn State because of family atmosphere, academics, the staff, and the Big Ten Conference. A lot of exposure," said Newbill, who wanted to come closer to home.

Playing for a Philly-area guy in Chambers was also a great attraction once he received his release from Southern Mississippi.

"It was like a family atmosphere when I met with him [Chambers] and his staff," Newbill said. "It was also a family atmosphere when I met with the players. They all seemed like real genuine dudes."

At Boston University, Chambers had a lot of success recruiting in the Philadelphia area. Before taking over that program in 2009, Chambers was the associate head coach at Villanova. He also had assistant coaching stints at Philadelphia University and Delaware Valley College.

According to NCAA rules, Newbill will have to sit out next season before having three seasons of eligibility. However, the 19-year-old will be allowed to practice with Penn State next season.

Newbill averaged 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists en route to being named to the Conference USA all-freshman team.

After a season like that, some people think it doesn't make sense to transfer. "Yeah, well, that's the people from the outside looking in," said Newbill, who said he was miserable at Southern Mississippi. "I just felt like I would be better playing at another school."

Newbill said he has found his home away from home at Penn State.

"It's not too far from Philly," Newbill said. "It's not too close. I can still come home, and I can still get away and still focus on me getting a degree and playing basketball on a college level."

As a senior at Strawberry Mansion High School, Newbill signed a letter of intent to play at Marquette. However, the Big East school rescinded the scholarship on July 1, 2010, to make room for a transfer.

Later that month, Newbill accepted a scholarship offer from Southern Mississippi.