Newman basketball adds a key player to its team

Julian Randle won’t be in the scorebook for the Newman University men’s basketball team this season, but there won’t be a more important Jet.

Julian is a 11-year-old student at Allison Middle School who has juvenile dermatomyositis, an auto-immune disease that attacks healthy muscles and connective tissue. He jumped straight past high school basketball last week by signing a letter of intent with Newman, where he’ll be part of the team at practices, meetings and games.

“Give water bottles, give them high fives when they come out of the game, tell them good job, just be there for them,” Julian said.

Julian and Newman were matched through Team Impact, a Massachusetts-based non-profit that links seriously ill children with college athletic programs. Julian comes from a basketball family and has already fit in with the Jets.

Congratulations to Julian for joining a college team and cheers to first-year Newman coach R.J. Allen and the Jets, who will play this season with the support of an encouraging teammate.

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 11:24 AM with the headline "Newman basketball adds a key player to its team."