Keisha Newell is entering her third season as the head coach of the Lewis University Women's Basketball program, having led the team to a 44-20 (.688) record and consecutive NCAA Tournament berths. Newell's recruiting expertise and passion for building relationships with her players have been key to her success.
The two-time IBCA Collegiate Coach of the Year (2023-24 & 2022-23) led the Flyers to an historic season in 2023-24 as the program captured both the GLVC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, posting a 23-9 record and setting a program record for conference wins with 19.
Prior to Lewis, Newell served as the head coach at Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School from 2019 to 2022, where she led the program to a 41-23 (.641) record and two Regional Championships in two full seasons.
From 2015 to 2019, Newell was the head coach at Roosevelt University where she led the program to 61 wins and rebuilt a program that had only won eight games the season prior to her arrival. in 2018-19, she led Roosevelt to a 18-14 record, the program’s first winning season in five seasons.
As a collegiate head coach, Newell has recruited and coached 13 all-conference team selections, as well as one Freshman of the Year.
A three-year Team Captain and 2007-08 Horizon League All-Newcomer Team selection, Newell (formerly Collins) graduated from Loyola University Chicago with 957 career points and 371 assists. After graduation, she joined her alma mater’s staff for four seasons from 2010 to 2014, spending one season as the director of basketball operations and three as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. In 2012-13, Newell assisted the program to its first winning season in 11 seasons, as well as the most single season wins (17) and first winning Horizon League record (10-6) in 24 seasons.
Newell is married to former Ball State University basketball standout Anthony Newell and has two children, Addisyn and Kamryn. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Loyola in 2010 and a Master of Organization Development from Roosevelt in 2018.
