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Newman Is NE-10 Scholar-Athlete of the Year; Wins N.C.A.A. Post-Grad Scholarship

July 7, 2005

WORCESTER, Mass. --- Standout tennis player JAMES NEWMAN (Johannesburg, South Africa/Damelin) has been named the winner of an N.C.A.A. Post-Graduate Scholarship.

Newman, who was named a second-team CoSIDA academic all-American as selected by the nation's Sports Information Directors earlier this summer, is also the recipient of the Northeast-10 Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award.

He has earned one of 58 postgraduate scholarships of $7,500 as sponsored by the N.C.A.A. He finished with a grade point average of 3.92 as a triple Accounting, Finance and Philosophy major and was graduated in May summa cum laude. He is also studying the intense Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) curriculum on his own and has passed the first of three brutal exams and is also a Mensa member.


Captain James Newman

He is the ELEVENTH Greyhound to have earned an N.C.A.A. scholarship grant---and the EIGHTH in the last seven years! Soccer all-America ALI REYELL (Worcester, MA/Doherty) earned the 10th scholarship in the fall.

To qualify for an postgraduate scholarship, a student-athlete must have an overall GPA of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale) or its equivalent and must have performed with distinction as a member of the varsity team(s) in the sport(s) in which the student-athlete was nominated. The student-athlete must have behaved, both on and off the field, in a manner that has brought credit to the student-athlete, the institution and intercollegiate athletics. The student-athlete also must intend to continue work beyond the baccalaureate degree as a full-time or part-time graduate student.

He is the FOURTH Greyhound student-athlete since 2001 to be recognized as a conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Previous honorees have included: 2001, Stacy Mattioli (basketball); 2002, Heather Schlesinger (field hockey); 2003, Sean Kenney (tennis).

Newman earlier was recognized by the athletics department as its premier male senior student-athlete (Rev. Armand Desautels, A.A. Memorial Award) and was named the E.C.A.C. Robbins Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2003-04. He is on their institutional awards list for 2004-05 and a prime candidate to become a two time winner.

In his amazing career Newman posted a singles record of 52-9 and a doubles record of 54-10 for Coach JOHN IPPOLITO. He finished 13-1 in singles, primarily at the No. 4 position and 11-4 at No. 1 doubles and served as a team captain the past two years as the Greyhounds won the conference title for the sixth and seventh consecutive years---both regular-season and post-season. They advanced to the N.C.A.A. East regional final for the fourth consecutive year---winning the 2002 final.

"James is the bench mark for the academic athlete at Assumption," said Ippolito. "I say academic athlete because as phenomenal an athlete as he is, he's just above and beyond academically. He has set the standards for academics here."

He also played golf for Coach TIM BIBAUD this past fall posting a team leading 79.8 medal average for eight rounds. He fired a season-low 73 in the second round of the E.C.A.C. tournament. His 78-79--157 was 18th in the Northeast-10 Conference championship in which the Greyhounds finished third.

He is the son of Ron and Lois Newman of Johannesburg, South Africa. He has already accepted a position with Ernst & Young in Boston and is undecided at this time where he will do his graduate studies.

GREYHOUNDS WITH N.C.A.A. POST-GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS

1974-75 Paul BRENNAN, basketball

1976-77 Bill WURM, basketball

1979-80 Larry MEHALL, basketball, baseball

1997-98 Derek MOHAMED, hockey

1998-99 Stephanie DE LUCIA, softball

1999-00 Kristen LADEBAUCHE, softball

2001-02 Heather SCHLESINGER, field hockey

2002-03 Sean KENNEY, tennis

2003-04 Shahar GOLAN, basketball

2004-05 Ali REYELL, soccer and James NEWMAN, tennis/golf


OF PARTICULAR NOTE: Greyhound student-athletes have now earned 11 N.C.A.A. Post-Graduate Scholarships --- more than twice the number of any other institutions in the Northeast-10 Conference and over 40 percent of the total earned. Of the Division II institutions nationwide the Greyhounds are now 11th in total recipients. They are 11th of all the institutions in New England (regardless of division) and first among the Division II schools.