A year of extreme highs and lows continues for the UCF Athletics programs with the announcement that talented Oklahoma combo guard Calvin Newell is transferring to UCF.
After officially receiving a bid to the Big East Conference, followed by a promising 8-2 start, the UCF Men’s Basketball team received exciting news Monday when head coach Donnie Jones announced that the Knights landed the 6’1″ Newell from Oklahoma University.
“Calvin is a combo guard who can come in and provide us with some immediate scoring,” Jones said in a press release from UCFAthletics.com. “He is a tough player and a terrific defender. Calvin fits in with our up-tempo style of play and we are excited about him joining our basketball family.”
Newell, who was the Sooners second-leading scorer this season with 13 points per game, will be eligible to compete for UCF in December 2012.
He will have one and a half years to play for the Knights and will be a senior in 2013-14 when UCF joins the Big East.
The sophomore has played in 36 total games as a Sooner in the Big 12 Conference, including 31 games his freshman season. He averaged 3.5 points per game mostly off the bench, while recording four double-digit scoring games in his freshman campaign.
Newell stepped up his game this year, averaging 19.6 minutes per contest off the bench and upped his scoring average to 13 points. He posted a career-high 19 points in Oklahoma’s (8-1) season opener vs. Idaho State, and the Sooners are 4-1 in the five games that the Philadelphia-native has appeared in this season.
Newell will be a nice addition to the Knights backcourt, who will lose senior point guards A.J. Rompza and Jeff Jordan after this season to graduation.
The former North Carolina standout can shoot the ball from deep range and will complement a potentially dangerous backcourt in 2012 that will feature Marcus Jordan, Isaiah Sykes and Newell.
Newell is the fourth “Big Six” conference player to transfer to UCF in the last two years, following Josh Crittle from Oregon (Pac 12), Tristan Spurlock from Virginia (ACC) and Jeff Jordan from Illinois (Big 10).
