Last Friday, Saint Louis University men’s basketball coach Brad
Soderberg beefed up his interior lineup for next season, announcing
the signing of Vas’shun Newborne, a six-foot-six-inch, 220- pound
forward from Natchez, Mississippi, to a National Letter of
Intent.

“He is a guy that will make us better immediately,” Soderberg
said. “He’s a complete player. He will fit into our offense
beautifully, he’s a good defender and a responsible student.”

Newborne, who has two years of eligibility remaining, will come
to the Billikens from traditional junior college powerhouse Chipola
Junior College in Marianna, Fla. Chipola, which finished in sixth
place in the National Junior College Athletic Association
Tournament, is the same junior college attended by current Billiken
center Tom Frericks. The two were never on the same team,
however.

From a statistical aspect, Newborne averaged 11.2 points and 7.5
rebounds per game this season, while shooting 53 percent from the
field. He was named to the FCCAA Panhandle All-Conference first
team as well as the FCCAA State All-Tournament team. His team at
Chipola won both the Panhandle Conference and Region VIII
championships.

At the current time, Newborne is the only player to sign with
the Billikens during the spring signing period, which lasts from
April 14 through May 19. The 5/8 rule, which currently prohibits a
team from signing more than five players in one season and more
than eight players during two seasons, restricts the Billikens from
signing another player immediately. However, the NCAA Board of
Directors is expected to repeal the rule in their meeting today.
Assuming that the board votes to repeal the rule, Soderberg and his
staff have one more scholarship available, which could be awarded
in the reasonably near future or saved until next season.

“It would have to be for a special player. We’re not just going
to give it away frivolously,” Soderberg said. The Billikens signed
three local high school stars, Dwayne Polk from Vashon High in St.
Louis, Luke Meyer from St. Francis Borgia High in Washington, Mo.,
and Tommie Liddell from East St. Louis High School, in East St.
Louis, in November during the early signing period. Polk, Meyer and
Liddell all were named to the First Team All-Metro St. Louis by the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, with Polk being honored as the Player of
the Year.

Polk, a highly skilled point guard, won his third Missouri state
championship in March. He wowed all in attendance when he took over
the game early in the second half, scoring 21 of his 38 points in
the third quarter and single-handedly turned a nine point halftime
deficit to Kearney into an eventual 13-point victory, which closed
out an undefeated season. Meyer, a six-foot-five-inch wing player,
finished his high school career with 2,192 points, making him
Borgia’s all-time leading scorer. As a senior this season he was
normally double and triple teamed by defenses, yet still averaged
28.6 points per game.

Liddell, widely considered the best recruit in St. Louis, was a
versatile guard who showed his great talent this season by playing
point, wing and down low. With two seasons under Soderberg’s belt
as the head coach at SLU, he is pleased with his program’s progress
since he was named the Billikens’ head coach just over two years
ago.

“I really like where we are right now,” Soderberg said.