Western Kentucky added another piece to the 2025-26 roster on Tuesday.

Grant Newell, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound transfer from North Texas, announced his commitment to WKU on his Instagram account Tuesday night. The Chicago native started all 36 games for a Mean Green squad that finished 27-9 and reached the National Invitation Tournament semifinals this past season.

Newell averaged 6.2 points and 3.6 rebounds for North Texas, scoring in double digits six times with a season-high 14 points against UTSA on Feb. 1.

Before joining the Mean Green as a junior for the 2024-25 season, Newell played two seasons at California. In 2023-24, he played in all 32 games and made 11 starts for the Golden Bears with averages of 5.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Newell shot 41.3% from the floor and made 21 3-pointers and shot 30.4% from the 3-point arc.

As a true freshman in 2022-23, Newell played in 31 games and made 28 starts for the Golden Bears and averaged 8.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per outing to earn Pac-12 All-Freshman Team Honorable Mention.

Newell graduated from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, in 2022, and was a three-star prospect by ESPN and Rivals. Before IMG, Newell attended Whitney Young High School in his hometown of Chicago from 2018-21 and was the No. 8 rated prospect from Illinois in his class.

Newell becomes the sixth addition to the Hilltoppers via the transfer portal, joining forwards Bryant Selebangue (McNeese State) and Louie Semona (Stonehill), forward/center Noah Boyde (LSU) and guards Cam Haffner (Evansville) and Ryan Myers (Western Illinois).

The Hilltoppers also will add incoming freshmen shooting guard Armelo Boone (Woodford County) and forward Lawson Rice (Butler County), who were added during the early signing period.