Mustangs' Newsome commits to Navy

East Lincoln forward Alex Newsome has committed to play basketball at Navy beginning next season, pending Congressional nomination and the passing of an essay and physical test.

The 6-foot-9, 225-pound forward committed on Sept. 2 and will sign a national letter of intent if all goes to plan, said his father, Randy Newsome.

Newsome averaged 14.1 points and 7.3 rebounds last season, helping the Mustangs share the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference championship with Cherryville.

His scholarship would be valued at $360,000, his father said.

Charleston Southern and North Florida had also offered scholarships. Davidson, Belmont University and Lehigh had shown interest.

The Newsomes didn’t realize Navy was interested in the school made its first contact in late August.

“Navy just called us out of left field and said, ‘Hey, we’ve been watching your son all year. We’ve done our research. We like his grades. We think he’d be a good candidate for the Naval Academy,” Randy Newsome said.

A week after Navy offered a scholarship, Alex visited the campus and attended class with former East Lincoln soccer star Ali Fisher and former Gaston Day basketball standout Ben Biles.

“We went up there and Alex fell in love with it and the rest is history,” Randy Newsome said.

Newsome would begin at the Naval Preparatory school in Newport, R.I. A year later, he would begin his four-year stint at the academy in Annapolis, Md.