Jai Lamar Lewis (born February 13, 1983) is an American former basketball player who last played for Sabios de-Manizales in Colombia. He now works as a behavioral specialist in

Parkville, Maryland Parkville is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 30,734. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area ...

College career

He grew up in Germany to US Army serving parents and began to play basketball while there at the age of 6. When he turned 8 his family moved to

Aberdeen, Maryland Aberdeen is a city located in Harford County, Maryland, United States, northeast of Baltimore. The population was 16,254 at the 2020 United States Census. Aberdeen is the largest municipality in Harford County. Aberdeen is part of the Baltimor ...

, where he played for the local Aberdeen High School. He is best known for his career in

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

at George Mason University. A

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to centers. When on offense, they typically play with their ba ...

, Lewis was the primary inside force for the Patriots during their "

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

" run to the 2006 Final Four. Lewis was selected as the 47th pick overall in the 2006 CBA Draft by the

Pittsburgh Xplosion The Pittsburgh Xplosion was a professional basketball team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh were members of the Continental Basketball Association from 2006 to 2008. Founded in 2004 as the Pittsburgh Hard Hats as a member of the ABA ...

NFL attempt

Lewis was signed as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the New York Giants of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

following the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with add ...

wanting to pursue a career similar to Antonio Gates and

Marcus Pollard Marcus LaJuan Pollard (born February 8, 1972) is a former American football tight end and current director of player development and youth football for the Jacksonville Jaguars. College career Born in Lanett, Alabama, Pollard attended Valley Hi ...

. He ended his pursuit of an NFL career as an offensive tackle to pursue his basketball options. Although he was listed at Mason as 6'7", 275 lb (2.01 m, 125 kg), the Giants listed him at 6'5", 292 lb (1.96 m, 133 kg).

Professional career

Weeks after leaving the Giants, Lewis signed with

KK Bosna KK Bosna Meridianbet ( bs, Košarkaški klub Bosna Meridianbet) is a professional basketball team based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the most successful Bosnian club of all time, having been the EuroLeague champion by winning the ...

for $8,000 a month. Lewis was expected to play a significant role for the defending champions. However, Lewis was released from his contract in just six weeks. The team felt he was too small to play power forward in the Adriatic League. Shortly after leaving Bosna, Lewis signed to play in Israel for

Ironi Ramat Gan Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan ( he, מכבי עירוני רמת גן, formerly Ironi Ramat Gan) is a male basketball club based in Ramat Gan in central Israel. The team plays in Liga Leumit, the second division in Israeli basketball. It plays at the Sha ...

. The contract was for "more than $5,000 a month". In twenty-seven games, he averaged 15.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 1.7 steals. Following his rookie season in Israel, Jai Lewis signed with Strasbourg IG, a French team. Just four games into the season, with Lewis averaging only 3 points on 27% shooting, Strasbourg released Lewis. After playing for Strasbourg, Jai Lewis signed with

Hapoel Galil Elyon Hapoel Galil Elyon ( he, הפועל גליל עליון), also known as Hapoel Nofar Energy Galil Elion for sponsorship reasons, is an Israeli basketball club. The team competes in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top tier of Israeli b ...

, another Israeli team who took part in the ULEB Cup, to finish the 2008 season. He finished the season averaging 12.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in league play. Next, Lewis played for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the

Philippine Basketball Association The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines composed of twelve company-branded franchised teams. Founded in 1975, it is the first professional basketball league in Asia and is the se ...

along with former George Mason University teammate

Fil-Am Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

guard

Gabe Norwood Gabriel Daniel Viloria Norwood (born February 9, 1985) is a Filipino-American professional basketball player for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He played college basketball at George Mason Univ ...

. Prior to the 2010-11 season, he returned to

from Israel, and played in

Liga Leumit Liga Leumit ( he, ליגה לאומית, lit. ''National League'') is the second division of the Israeli Football League, and below its Premier League. Structure There are 16 clubs in the league. At the end of each season, the two lowest-place ...

for 4 games in 2010. He then moved to Japan to play top basketball. In 2013, after playing in Colombia he retired from professional basketball.

External links

George Mason Patriots bio

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Jai 1983 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Bosnia and Herzegovina American expatriate basketball people in Colombia American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in South Korea American men's basketball players Basketball players from Maryland Changwon LG Sakers players George Mason Patriots men's basketball players Hapoel Galil Elyon players Ironi Ramat Gan players Israeli Basketball Premier League players KK Bosna Royal players Levanga Hokkaido players People from Aberdeen, Maryland Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars Philippine Basketball Association imports Power forwards (basketball) Rain or Shine Elasto Painters players SIG Basket players Sportspeople from the Baltimore metropolitan area Sun Rockers Shibuya players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people

College career

NFL attempt

Professional career

See also

External links

References