Photo by Dylan Jones | The Signal
Last season Freshman point guard Madison Newby took a lot of people by storm with her tremendous freshman campaign. Newby attended Archer High School where she was the Player of the Year for her region. Newby also set the the record for career assists in Gwinnett County, so it is easy to see why she was able to lead the Sun Belt Conference in assists her freshman year. On the flip side Newby also lead the conference in turnovers, so that is something that she must improve on.
Last season, Newby averaged a cool 8.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. Although her numbers weren’t gaudy the impact that she was able to provide is undeniable. Newby played the most minutes out of anyone on the team with 871, and 30 per game. She was second on the team in total points scored with 248. Newby also led the Sun Belt Conference in assists with 145 (not including postseason). This season as the reigning Freshman of the Year, and one of the vocal leaders of this team more will be expected of her. She will be attempting to lead the Panthers to their first Sun Belt conference championship in school history. As tall of a task as it seems, Newby is up to the challenge and can get it done with her outstanding leadership.
Last season, what was your, “Oh wow I’m playing college basketball moment?”
Newby: I think we were playing Arkansas Little-Rock. It was the best competition that we’ve ever played so there was a lot of pressure on me and it was like, ‘oh wow this is college basketball, It’s not like high school I have to handle the ball more, handle pressure and lead my team.’
What was the biggest difference that you noticed between high school basketball and college basketball last season?
Newby: In high school everybody is kind of average, they can kind of play everybody gets playing time. In college it’s like you have seven people that can really go, everybody can play, everybody can shoot, everybody can dribble, so it’s just more competitive with better players.
You won Freshman of the Year last season. How did it make you feel and how do you build off of that going into this season?
Newby: Winning the Freshman of the Year was a shock. My team motivated me they pushed me to be the best that I could be, this year I guess I just try harder, play better, make plays and what I can do for my team to help them develop as players teammates and people
You lead the conference in assists last season, so what do you think contributed to that?
Newby: Yeah I lead the conference in assists, but I hope this year to not only lead in assists, but cut my turnovers down because I also lead the league in turnovers, so I just want to do better with sharing the ball with my teammates but also not turning it over and causing losses.
What do you think the reason behind the turnovers was?
Newby: I think that it was pressure, being a freshman, handling the ball as a freshman, my first year in college so it lead to a lot of turnovers to my teammates that weren’t really open.
What did you work on this offseason to improve your game?
Newby: I worked on my jump shot, a lot of teams they played me off, they played in the lane so that I can’t drive, so I had to develop a jump shot so that I could free up my teammates and get open so they could get open.
Do you have a favorite artist or rapper?
Newby: I don’t really listen to music that much
Do you have a favorite celebrity or athlete
Newby: Celebrity no, but my favorite athlete is Georgia State’s No. 88 Ari Werts
Do you have a favorite social media site?
Newby: I like Twitter
What is your favorite thing about Twitter?
Newby: My favorite thing about Twitter is if I get into a fight with my boyfriend, I can just go on Twitter, find the perfect tweet, retweet it and he’ll know exactly what I’m talking about, he’ll know that he’s in trouble!
Do you have a favorite movie?
Newby: Every women’s basketball players favorite movie has to be Love & Basketball
Tell me something interesting about yourself that nobody knows.
Newby: I have four siblings. I have three sisters and a brother.
Do you have a message for the fans, something to look forward this season?
Newby: Look forward to us winning more games, us being competitive , come support your Georgia State Women’s basketball team!
