"I hope in the future you will consider those responsibilities and the consequences of your actions," New said.
Defense attorneys had argued that the woman had consensual sex with the men on June 24, 2004, and that she concocted a phony rape allegation the next day out of embarrassment.
The jury of nine women and three men deliberated about eight hours over two days before finding Neal and Cleaves not guilty of all charges.
Neal mouthed the words thank you and wiped his eyes as the jury foreman announced the verdicts. Cleaves shook his attorney's hand, took a deep breath, and turned around to smile at tearful family members seated in the courtroom.
The men were jubilant as they left the Criminal Justice Center, and some of their supporters raised their hands in gestures of victory.
"I feel real good," Cleaves told reporters.
Neal declined to comment.
Neither the woman, who is now 20 and plays basketball for the University of New Haven, nor her parents were in the courtroom when the verdicts were announced.
On the La Salle campus, the dean of students, Joseph Cicala said, "We support the decision of the jurors, but we are deeply saddened by the circumstances of the case. . . . It has deeply scarred lives of the people involved. . . . There is no happiness associated with this in any way."
With DNA evidence proving both men performed sex acts with the woman, the case largely hinged on her credibility.
When she testified last week, the woman became hysterical before being called to the witness stand, but then testified in a flat voice with little visible emotion.
She told jurors she was a summer camp counselor for young basketball players at La Salle when Neal and Cleaves took turns raping her and simultaneously tried to make her perform oral sex. She said she was vomiting in a dormitory sink at the time.
The woman said she was too drunk to move or say no after drinking eight consecutive shots of 99 Apples - a 99-proof alcoholic beverage.
