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Tyler Lewis (basketball)
Tyler Lewis (born May 14, 1993) is an American basketball player from Statesville, North Carolina who is the son of Rick and Margaret Lewis. He currently plays point guard for Butler University under head coach, Brandon Miller, as a junior in college with two years of eligibility left. He was originally recruited to play for Mark Gottfried at North Carolina State University, but transferred after his sophomore season. He is currently listed at 5’11, weighing 170 pounds. His style of play relies mainly on an up-tempo offense and his ability to assist the ball and not turn it over.

High School Career
Lewis grew up in Statesville, North Carolina, but played basketball for Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Virginia. His senior season, he led his team to a perfect 44-0 record and helped coach Steve Smith (basketball coach) to his sixth national championship in his 27 years of coaching. Lewis averaged 12.0 pointers per game, 7.9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds. He transferred to Oak Hill from Forsyth Country Day School in Lewisville, North Carolina, and ended up leaving as the school’s career scoring and assists leader with 1,927 points and 685 assists. In his final season at Forsyth, he averaged 27.2 points, 7.4 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.5 steals. Typically, Oak Hill Academy basketball players transfer from all over the world. Rarely do they have players from so close transfer, so coaches were a bit skeptical of Tyler’s abilities. He was also under 6 feet, which is obviously a disadvantage in basketball. He held his teammates in high regards and referred to coach Smith as “the best coach in America.” The 2011-12 Oak Hill Warriors consisted of Darion Clarke from Atlanta, Jordan Adams, a UCLA recruit, Damien Wilson, going to Memphis, D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera from Indiana, AJ Hammons, a Purdue recruit, Ike Iroegbu from California, RJ Curington, and Jordan Tebbutt. Before the first practice, Lewis predicted that the 2011-12 National Champions would be the Oak Hill Warriors, and his prediction came true largely due to his efforts. He went into college ranked as the 73rd best prospect according to ESPN’s Dave Telep and 54th according to rivals.com.

College Career
Lewis arrived to NC State as part of a recruiting class of three All-Americans that included Lewis, T. J. Warren, and eventual transfer Rodney Purvis. In Lewis’ freshman year, he averaged 12.4 minutes of playing time with starting point guard Lorenzo Brown holding the reins for the Wolfpack. He did play in 34 of their 35 contests however, and helped the team make the NCAA tournament. Lewis shot over 85% from the foul line, and finished ACC conference play with a 5-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. In his college debut against Miami (Ohio), he was able to dish out 6 assists. Among his best games are Feb. 2 where he tallied 16 points with 5 assists in 36 minutes of playing time, Feb. 7 where he made his first career start against the powerhouse of Duke in Durham and scored 13 points with 6 assists to just one turnover and almost helped lead the Wolfpack to an improbable victory, and on Feb. 16 where he had 13 points off the bench to help his team down Virginia Tech. His sophomore campaign was his best season, as he started 18 games including the team’s last 14. He set a school record in assists-to-turnover ratio with 3.5:1. He had 70 assists verses 15 turnovers in the ACC games. His best asset was his ability to protect the ball and putting leading scorer and ACC Player of the Year T. J. Warren in the position to score. His best games during his second season included a 15 point outing vs. Campbell on Nov. 16, 2013, 7 assists vs. Northwestern on Dec. 4, 2013, 11 assists with no turnovers against Virginia Tech on Feb. 22, 2014, and 8 points with 7 assists vs. Xavier in a winning effort against Xavier in the NCAA Tournament.

Transfer to Butler
After his Sophomore season at NC State, Lewis “felt like it was best for (me) to move on.” He looked at Purdue, Xavier, Charlotte, Gonzaga, and UAB before choosing to play for Butler. “They just made it feel like home,” he said, “All the players, I fit in really well with them… I just felt like it would fit my style of play great— the way they get out in transition and have a lot of screen-and-rolls.” He had to sit out last season due to the NCAA transfer rules, but will hope to see action under head coach Brandon Miller. “We are thrilled about the addition of Tyler Lewis to our program,” said Miller. He added that “He has shown great ability to run a team, play unselfish and distribute and take care of the ball at a high level both in high school and college. We are excited about his ability to impact our basketball program. He compliments our current team and our incoming class extremely well.”

Achievements
In Lewis’ senior season at Oak Hill Academy, he won the Gatorade Virginia Boys Basketball Player of the Year. The award recognized his ability on the court, as well as high academic achievement and exemplary character shown on and off the court. It distinguishes Tyler as Virginia’s best high school basketball player. He was the sixth Oak Hill Academy athlete to win the award. He was also a McDonald’s All-American his senior year, helping his school win the national championship. Oak Hill also won the Les Schwab Invitational crown, in which Lewis was the tournament MVP. The previous year at Forsyth, he was the runner for the 2011 North Carolina Associated Press Player of the year, as well as a two time North Carolina AP All State Men’s Prep Basketball Team selection, a two times PACIS Conference Player of the Year, a two time Max Preps all American, and a two time NCISAA all-state member.