PEIA high school basketball player from P.E.I. will be playing NCAA Division I basketball next year. Alex Newson recently committed to study at the University at Albany, N.Y., where she’ll be playing with the Albany Great Danes. High school student Alex Newson committed to study at the University at AlbanyBrittany Spencer · CBC News · Posted: Oct 19, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours agoIslander Alex Newson will be going to the University at Albany, New York next year, where she’ll be playing for the school’s NCAA Division I women’s basketball team, the Albany Great Danes. (Submitted by Alex Newson)A high school basketball player from P.E.I. is going to take her game, and hopefully her athletic career, to a whole new level when she heads to university next year.Alex Newson recently committed to study at the State University of New York at Albany, where she’ll be playing with the Albany Great Danes. When she steps onto the court with the team, Newson will be making history: She is believed to be the first-ever basketball player from P.E.I. to play NCAA Division I basketball.“It’s great, honestly, I think it’s like, even better being from like a small province. I hope to inspire other people, especially girls that play basketball. I think it’s growing a lot in the province,” Newson told Mainstreet P.E.I. host Steve Bruce.Newson said she started playing basketball when she was just five years old. And this won’t be the first time she has made a big move in pursuit of her basketball career. Newson moved to Ontario before starting grade 11 at King’s Christian Collegiate, where she could play basketball year-round in one of the best leagues in the country, she said. LISTEN | Alex Newson makes Island basketball history:Mainstreet PEI9:34Alex Newson makes Island basketball historyHeaded for the big leagues – Island basketball star Alex Newson has earned a spot on the University at Albany’s roster next year. She’ll become the first Islander ever to play NCAA Division I basketball. We chat with Alex about what this milestone means to her and where she hopes her basketball career will go from here.“We play against other great Division I players, national team players and we get to travel to the states a lot, just to get showcased and recruited,” she said. After making that move and starting the season with her new team in Ontario, Newson realized she could set her sights even higher and make her dream of taking her basketball career to the next level a reality.“That kind of just became my dream, just my, kind of, goal for the next two years trying to make it there, and I think the more and more I improved I was like, okay — this can happen now,” she said. ‘They’ve always supported me’ Earlier this year, Newson represented Team P.E.I. as the province’s flag bearer at the Canada Games in St. John’s, N.L., where she played on P.E.I.’s basketball team. It was an experience she got to share with her dad, who coached the team and is also a former Canada Games athlete. He played basketball in the games 30 years ago. Newson said she wouldn’t be where she is today without that support from her parents. “They’ve always supported me, my mom went on the visit [to Albany] with me and she loved the coaching staff and knew it was a great place for me,” she said.’Only a small percentage of us from high school can make it to that level, especially being from Canada… it’s a pretty big deal,’ says Alex Newson about reaching NCAA Division I level basketball. (Submitted by Alex Newson)She said as soon as they left campus she knew her decision and committed to attending the school just a few days later — calling her parents right away to tell them the news.“I couldn’t be there with them but, you know, they were excited for me so it was just an amazing feeling.” Newson said in addition to playing basketball, she’s also looking forward to starting classes at the university next fall, where she plans to study biology. Training begins next summerFor Newson, committing to the University at Albany has taken a huge weight off her shoulders. She said she knows what a rare opportunity it is to play NCAA basketball, especially coming from Canada. “Only a small percentage of us from high school can make it to that level, especially being from Canada,” she said. “It’s a pretty big deal.” Newson said she hopes to make a good first impression when she joins the team as a freshman, and also hopes to help her teammates win some games — all while focusing on improving her skills. As for where her basketball career goes from here, Newson said she’s not ruling anything out. “I hope to play basketball for as long as possible. A lot of people in Division I try to go pro and stuff like that, and I know the coaches can help me try to get there if I really want to,” she said. But first things first: Newson needs to finish up her grade 12 school year before she heads to the University at Albany next summer for basketball training.ABOUT THE AUTHORBrittany Spencer is a multi-platform reporter and producer with CBC Prince Edward Island. She’s covered politics, health care and the justice system. She’s a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s journalism program and joined CBC in 2017. You can reach her at brittany.spencer@cbc.caWith files from Mainstreet
‘I hope to inspire other people:’ Islander heading to play NCAA Division I basketball next year
