Jim Lewis (basketball)

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

Lewis was born on December 15, 1946 in Alexandria, Virginia. For his post-secondary education, Lewis played basketball at West Virginia University during the 1960s while studying journalism. After graduating from West Virginia in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science, Lewis completed his post-graduate studies at the University of Detroit and received a Master of Physical Education from Tennessee State University in 1970.[1][2]

Career

From 1969 to 1971, Lewis was an assistant coach for one year each at Tennessee State and Gannon College.[3] 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.[4]

In 1984, Lewis was named the head coach of the George Mason Patriots women's basketball team. With George Mason, Lewis had 201 wins and 177 losses before he was replaced by Debbie Taneyhill during the 1997 season.[5] That year, Lewis was hired as the inaugural head coach of the Washington Mystics.[6] With the WNBA team, Lewis had 2 wins and 16 losses during the 1998 season.[7]

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.[8] With Fordham, Lewis had 56 wins and 118 losses between 2000 and 2006.[9] In 2006, Lewis returned to the WNBA as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Lynx.[3] 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.[10] 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.[11]

Lewis stayed with Georgia Tech for a year before being hired by the Los Angeles Sparks in 2012 as an assistant coach.[12] 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 2013.[13] With the Hoyas, Lewis had 11 wins and 21 losses during the 2013–14 season.[14]

References
  1. "Jim Lewis Returns to Women's Basketball Staff as Assistant Coach". George Mason Athletics. June 14, 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  2. "James "Jimmy" Lewis Athlete / Coach". Alexandria African American Hall of Fame. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  3. "Lynx Hire Jim Lewis as Assistant Coach". WNBA. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  4. Huff, Donald (April 26, 1984). "Lewis To Coach Mason Women". Washington Post. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  5. "George Mason Women's Basketball Record Book (Through 2018-19 season)" (PDF). George Mason Athletics. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  6. Shipley, Amy (December 30, 1997). "Old Hand, New Pro for Mystics". Washington Post. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  7. "Jim Lewis WNBA Coaching Record". Basketball Reference. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  8. Remsnyder, Rick (November 9, 2000). "Lewis has hands full at Fordham". The Journal News (White Plains, New York). pp. 1C, 8C.
  9. "Women's Head Basketball Coach to Retire". Fordham University. March 8, 2006. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  10. "Lewis Named Assistant Women's Basketball Coach". Georgia Tech Athletics. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  11. Roberson, Doug (May 6, 2010). "Tech women's hoops team adds coach". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  12. "Sparks Hire Jim Lewis to Complete Coaching Staff". WNBA. March 13, 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  13. "Georgetown: Lewis interim women's basketball coach". The Columbian. October 23, 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  14. 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.
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