Collegiate volleyball player Natalia Newsome made headlines for her impressive 40-inch vertical jump during a game against the University of North Carolina State, prompting reactions from stars such as LeBron James and Sue Bird. Newsome is currently a sophomore at Southern Methodist University (SMU) and has already established herself as one of the rising stars in the sport. She plays as a middle blocker, and joined SMU in 2024. Newsome joined SMU after playing for Arlington Martin High School in Texas, where she earned multiple accolades. She was named the team's Most Valuable Player in 2022, and was also lettered for three years. Newsome gained recognition for her performances after joining SMU, particularly for her 40-inch vertical jump. The height of the jump is a foot above the rim of an NBA hoop, making her jump very impressive as many volleyball and NBA players average a much lower height than this. In a post shared by SMU on Instagram, stars such as LeBron James, Sue Bird, and Quentin Richardson shared their reactions to her viral jump. The post also included other moments where she leaped impressively. "🐰🔥🔥🔥🔥," - Lebron James"Holy crap" - Sue Bird"Wow!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥," - Quentin Richardson View this post on Instagram Instagram PostNatalia Newsome stands at 5 feet 11 inches. In her first season with SMU, she led all players on the team with 40 or more kills and a hitting percentage of .415. She was also named to the ACC All-Academic Team for 2024. Natalia Newsome on her impressive vertical jump: "I guess you could say it was genetics"Natalia Newsome previously discussed why she joined SMU, and credited head coach Sam Erger with helping convince her to join. According to LoneStarLive.com, Newsome said:“She’s very much about your full experience at SMU. You can see with a lot of coaches that they just want to focus on your volleyball experience and that’s important. But she wants to make you a well-rounded person. She cares about how you’re doing in school, how you’re doing in volleyball, how you’re doing just as a person in general. That was something I really loved about her and was kind of one of the reasons that made me commit to SMU.”Newsome also discussed her impressive vertical, saying she inherited it. "It wasn’t really something I focused on until I got to SMU. I guess you could say it was genetics."Natalia Newsome's father, Tony, represented SMU as well. He played on their college football team as a wide receiver in the 90's.