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 South Lakes High School is a public high school in Reston, Virginia, United States. The school serves grades 9-12 for the Fairfax County Public Schools. History South Lakes High School opened in 1978 with grades 7-10. Students in the first 10th-g ...

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 The George Mason Patriots women's basketball team represents George Mason University and competes in the Atlantic 10 Conference of NCAA Division I. History George Mason began play in 1973, joining Division I in 1982. They were members of the Colo ...

head coach from 1984 to 1997. He then went to the WNBA as the first head coach of the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The team was founded pri ...

for the 1998 season. Between the 2000s and 2010s, Lewis held assistant coaching positions with the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team won the WNBA title in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Founded pr ...

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

and

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks (LA Sparks) are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was foun ...

. During this time period, Lewis was the head coach for the

Fordham Rams women's basketball The Fordham Rams women's basketball team represents Fordham University, located in the Bronx, New York, in NCAA Division I basketball competition. They currently compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. History Fordham began play in 1970. They jo ...

team,

T.C. Williams High School Alexandria City High School (formerly named T. C. Williams High School) is a public high school in the City of Alexandria, Virginia, United States, just outside of Washington, D.C. The school has an enrollment of over 4,100 students. The high sch ...

girls basketball team, and

Georgetown Hoyas women's basketball The Georgetown Hoyas women's basketball team is women's basketball program in the NCAA Division I Big East Conference. They are currently coached by James Howard, the program's tenth coach, now in his second year. The team was first formed in 197 ...

team.

Early life and education

Lewis was born on December 15, 1946, in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

. During the 1960s, Lewis lived in Parker-Gray before he left for

Groveton, Virginia Groveton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 14,598 at the 2010 census, down from 21,296 in 2000 due to a reduction in area. Located south of the city of Alexandria, it encompasses nume ...

. At both of these locations, Lewis was a boys basketball player. Outside of basketball, he was on a boys football team and had a

leg fracture The human leg, in the general word sense, is the entire lower limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh or sometimes even the hip or gluteal region. However, the definition in human anatomy refers only to the section of the lower lim ...

. After joining

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

in 1964, he was their "first frican Americanbasketball player to sign an athletic grant-in-aid". During December 1964, Lewis had surgery to his leg while playing basketball for West Virginia. By early 1965, he had surgeries to his knees and stopped playing basketball. Due to his knee surgeries, Lewis did not play for West Viriginia during the 1965-1966 basketball season. By December 1966, Lewis had returned to the roster for West Virginia. In January 1967, Lewis had a

foot fracture The foot ( : feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made ...

and was scheduled to miss over a month of games for West Virginia. After returning in March 1967, Lewis remained with West Virginia until 1968. During these two years, Lewis had a combined total of 106 rebounds and 125 points after appearing in 36 games. Outside of basketball, Lewis studied journalism at West Virigina before leaving for the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic universi ...

as a

graduate student Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

. For additional education, Lewis went to

Tennessee State University Tennessee State University (Tennessee State, Tenn State, or TSU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, it is the only state-funded historically black university in Tenness ...

for a physical education program.

Career

From 1969 to 1971, Lewis was an assistant coach for one year each at Tennessee State and

Gannon College Gannon University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon University has approximately 4,500 students and 46,000 alumni. Its intercollegiate athletics include 18 athletic programs for men and women competing at the NCAA D ...

. He continued his assistant coaching tenure in 1971 with five-year positions at

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

and

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

. In 1981, Lewis was hired by

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. In 1984, Lewis became the head coach of the

team. While with George Mason, Lewis was an assistant coach for

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympi ...

in the 1990s. With USA Basketball, Lewis was an assistant women's basketball coach during the 1994 R. William Jones Cup and the 1995

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

. At George Mason, Lewis had 201 wins and 177 losses before he was replaced by

Debbie Taneyhill Debbie (or Debby or Deb) is a feminine given name, commonly but not always short for Deborah (or Debra and related variants). Notable people * Debbie Allen, American actress, choreographer and film director *Debbie Armstrong, American athlete *D ...

during the 1997 season. That year, Lewis was hired as the inaugural head coach of the

. With the WNBA team, Lewis had 2 wins and 16 losses during the 1998 season. After leaving the Mystics in 1998 to become a basketball commentator, Lewis returned to head coaching in 2000 with the

team. With Fordham, Lewis had 56 wins and 118 losses between 2000 and 2006. In 2006, Lewis returned to the WNBA as an assistant coach for the

. As the

girls basketball coach from 2007 to 2008, Lewis obtained 22 wins and 1 loss before he resumed his WNBA experience with the

in 2008. 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 The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's basketball team represents the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in NCAA Division I basketball. The team plays its home games at McCamish Pavilion. Players Notable players who have played with the Yellow Jacket ...

team in 2010. Lewis stayed with Georgia Tech for a year before being hired by the

in 2012 as an assistant coach. During his time with the Sparks, Lewis also scouted for the team before being named the interim head coach of the

team in October 2013. He remained with Georgetown until April 2014. With the Hoyas, Lewis had 11 wins and 21 losses.

Honors

From the

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

, Lewis received the SoCon Alfred White Trailblazer Recognition in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Jim 1946 births Living people Basketball players from Alexandria, Virginia Basketball coaches from Virginia George Mason Patriots women's basketball coaches Washington Mystics head coaches Fordham Rams women's basketball coaches Minnesota Lynx coaches Indiana Fever coaches Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets women's basketball coaches Los Angeles Sparks coaches Georgetown Hoyas women's basketball coaches