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Jim Lewis (basketball)

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Jim Lewis (born December 15, 1946) is a former collegiate and WNBA basketball coach. After completing assistant coaching positions during the 1970s, Lewis was the head coach of the South Lakes High School boys' basketball team in the early 1980s. In collegiate basketball, Lewis obtained 201 wins and 107 losses as the George Mason Patriots women's basketball head coach from 1984 to 1997. He then went to the WNBA as the first head coach of the Washington Mystics for the 1998 season. Between the 2000s and 2010s, Lewis held assistant coaching positions with the Minnesota Lynx, Indiana Fever and Los Angeles Sparks. During this time period, Lewis was the head coach for the Fordham Rams women's basketball team, T.C. Williams High School girls basketball team, and Georgetown Hoyas women's basketball team.

Early life and education

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Lewis was born on December 15, 1946, in Alexandria, Virginia.[1] During the 1960s, Lewis lived in Parker-Gray before he left for Groveton, Virginia.[2] At both of these locations, Lewis was a boys basketball player.[3] Outside of basketball, he was on a boys football team and had a leg fracture.[4]

After joining West Virginia University in 1964, he was their "first [African American] basketball player to sign an athletic grant-in-aid".[5] During December 1964, Lewis had surgery to his leg while playing basketball for West Virginia.[6] By early 1965, he had surgeries to his knees and stopped playing basketball.[7][8] Due to his knee surgeries, Lewis did not play for West Viriginia during the 1965-1966 basketball season.[9] By December 1966, Lewis had returned to the roster for West Virginia.[10]

In January 1967, Lewis had a foot fracture and was scheduled to miss over a month of games for West Virginia.[11] After returning in March 1967, Lewis remained with West Virginia until 1968.[12] During these two years, Lewis had a combined total of 106 rebounds and 125 points after appearing in 36 games.[13] Outside of basketball, Lewis studied journalism at West Virigina before leaving for the University of Detroit as a graduate student. For additional education, Lewis went to Tennessee State University for a physical education program.[1]

Career

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From 1969 to 1971, Lewis was an assistant coach for one year each at Tennessee State and Gannon College.[14] He continued his assistant coaching tenure in 1971 with five-year positions at Duke University and Tulane University.[1] In 1981, Lewis was hired by South Lakes High School as a gym teacher before he became their head coach of the boys' basketball team. At South Lakes, Lewis had 59 wins and 15 losses before he left his coaching position in 1984.[15]

In 1984, Lewis became the head coach of the George Mason Patriots women's basketball team.[16] While with George Mason, Lewis was an assistant coach for USA Basketball in the 1990s.[17] With USA Basketball, Lewis was an assistant women's basketball coach during the 1994 R. William Jones Cup and the 1995 World University Games.[18][19] At George Mason, Lewis had 201 wins and 177 losses before he was replaced by Debbie Taneyhill during the 1997 season.[20] That year, Lewis was hired as the inaugural head coach of the Washington Mystics.[21] With the WNBA team, Lewis had 2 wins and 16 losses during the 1998 season.[22]

After leaving the Mystics in 1998 to become a basketball commentator, Lewis returned to head coaching in 2000 with the Fordham Rams women's basketball team.[23] With Fordham, Lewis had 56 wins and 118 losses between 2000 and 2006.[24] In 2006, Lewis returned to the WNBA as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx.[14] As the T.C. Williams High School girls basketball coach from 2007 to 2008, Lewis obtained 22 wins and 1 loss before he resumed his WNBA experience with the Indiana Fever in 2008.[25] From 2008 to 2010, Lewis worked with the Fever as a scout and assistant coach before becoming an assistant coach for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's basketball team in 2010.[26]

Lewis stayed with Georgia Tech for a year before being hired by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2012 as an assistant coach.[27] During his time with the Sparks, Lewis also scouted for the team before being named the interim head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas women's basketball team in October 2013.[28] He remained with Georgetown until April 2014.[29] With the Hoyas, Lewis had 11 wins and 21 losses.[30]

Honors

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From the Southern Conference, Lewis received the SoCon Alfred White Trailblazer Recognition in 2021.[31]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Jim Lewis Returns to Women's Basketball Staff as Assistant Coach". George Mason Athletics. June 14, 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  2. ^ Araton, Harvey (December 10, 2000). "Titanic responsibility". Richmond Times-Dispatch. N.Y. Times News Service. p. D2.
  3. ^ McNamara, John; Chamblee, Andrea; Elfin, David (2019). The Capital of Basketball: A History of DC Area High School Hoops. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. p. 83. ISBN 9781626167209. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  4. ^ Furfari, Mickey (March 10, 1964). "Fan-Fare". The Dominion-News (Monday Morning ed.). Morgantown, West Virginia. p. 6.
  5. ^ "WVU Recruit". The Morgantown Post (Monday Afternoon ed.). March 9, 1964. p. 6.
  6. ^ Moskowitz, Bob (December 13, 1964). "On the Real Thing". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. 3C.
  7. ^ Brill, Bill (January 19, 1965). "Duke and West Virginia Will Receive Big Boost From Talented Frosh Teams". The Roanoke Times. p. 18.
  8. ^ "Ron Averaging 31.9 Per". Weirton Daily Times. February 4, 1965. p. 14.
  9. ^ "West Virginia Opens Basketball Season With East Carolina Tonight". Beckley Post-Herald. The Associated Press. December 1, 1966. p. Three.
  10. ^ "Billikens, Mounties Threaten". Statesman Journal. Salem, Oregon. December 22, 1966. p. sec. II p. 17.
  11. ^ Derrick, Mel (January 7, 1967). "Injury-Plagued W. Va. Faces Davidson". The Charlotte Observer. p. 11A.
  12. ^ "Jim Lewis". WVU Stats. West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. 1967. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  13. ^ "Jim Lewis". WVU Stats. West Virginia University Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. Career. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Lynx Hire Jim Lewis as Assistant Coach". WNBA. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  15. ^ Huff, Donald (April 26, 1984). "Lewis To Coach Mason Women". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  16. ^ Staff, Wire Reports (November 2, 1984). "Richardson Named At George Mason". The Evening Telegram. Rocky Mount, North Carolina. p. 13.
  17. ^ "All-Time USA Basketball Women's Teams Assistant Coaches". USA Basketball. December 20, 2018. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  18. ^ "1994 Women's R. William Jones Cup". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  19. ^ "Seventeenth World University Games -- 1995". USA Basketball. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on September 7, 2015. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  20. ^ "George Mason Women's Basketball Record Book (Through 2018-19 season)" (PDF). George Mason Athletics. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  21. ^ Shipley, Amy (December 30, 1997). "Old Hand, New Pro for Mystics". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  22. ^ "Jim Lewis WNBA Coaching Record". Basketball Reference. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  23. ^ Remsnyder, Rick (November 9, 2000). "Lewis has hands full at Fordham". The Journal News (White Plains, New York). pp. 1C, 8C.
  24. ^ "Women's Head Basketball Coach to Retire". Fordham University. March 8, 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  25. ^ "Lewis Named Assistant Women's Basketball Coach". Georgia Tech Athletics. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  26. ^ Roberson, Doug (May 6, 2010). "Tech women's hoops team adds coach". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  27. ^ "Sparks Hire Jim Lewis to Complete Coaching Staff". WNBA. March 13, 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  28. ^ "Georgetown: Lewis interim women's basketball coach". The Columbian. October 23, 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  29. ^ "Georgetown hires Natasha Adair". ESPN. April 14, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  30. ^ Barnes, Barbara (2015). "Georgetown Women's Basketball 2015 - 2016 Media Guide" (PDF) (Press release). Georgetown University Department of Athletics. p. 51. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  31. ^ "SoCon announces Alfred White Trailblazer Recognition". Southern Conference. January 29, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
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