KJ Lewis is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who plays for the

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located at Washington, D.C. The Georgetown's athletics department fields 24 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the Natio ...

of the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

. He previously played for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

Early life and high school

Lewis grew up in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, and attended Mesquite Elementary School in

Vail, Arizona Vail is a census-designated place (CDP) in Pima County, Arizona, United States. It is southeast of Tucson. The population was 10,208 at the 2010 census, up from 2484 in the 2000 census. The area is known for the nearby Colossal Cave, a larg ...

prior to fifth grade. He originally attended

Chapin High School Chapin High School is a public high school in Chapin, South Carolina. Nearly 1,400 students attend Chapin High School, as of the 2017–2018 school year. Chapin High School is one of four high schools in Lexington & Richland County School D ...

El Paso El Paso (; ; or ) is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States. The 2020 United States census, 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the List of ...

. His sophomore and junior seasons he led Chapin to the Region I-5A semifinals where they lost both times. He averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals per game and was a finalist for Mr. Texas Basketball Player of the Year. For his senior season Lewis transferred to

Duncanville High School Duncanville High School is a secondary school located in Duncanville, Texas, Duncanville, Texas, United States, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The school is a part of Duncanville Independent School District. The school includes grades 9 through 12 ...

Duncanville, Texas Duncanville is a city in southwestern Dallas County, Texas, United States. Duncanville's population was 40,706 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes Duncanville, Cedar Hill, T ...

, after being named the ''

El Paso Times The ''El Paso Times'' is the newspaper for the US city of El Paso, Texas. The paper is the only English-language daily in El Paso (after the ''El Paso Herald-Post'', an afternoon paper, closed in 1997), but often competes with the Spanish-languag ...

'' All-City Co-MVP and All-State by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. Despite finishing with a 28−1 (14−0 in district) record, Duncanville opted out of the 2023 Class 6A state championship because they had been stripped of the 2022 state championship. Duncanville was ranked number 2 in the country by

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is currently owned by PlayOn. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including boys, girls, and co-ed sports. ...

and number 3 by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

. Lewis was teammates with

Ron Holland Ronald John Holland (born 1947 in Auckland, New Zealand)Ron Holland:De ...

, who skipped college and played professionally for the

NBA G League Ignite The NBA G League Ignite was a developmental basketball team in the NBA G League. Originally based in Walnut Creek, California, with home games planned to have been played at the Ultimate Fieldhouse for their first two seasons before moving to Hende ...

and was drafted 5th overall in the

2024 NBA draft The 2024 NBA draft was the 78th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual NBA draft, draft. Unlike recent years, the 2024 draft took place over two nights. This was the first NBA draft to be held on multiple nights since the draft ...

. He finished the year average 16 points and 9 rebounds per game.

Recruiting

Lewis was a consensus four-star recruit and a top 100 player in the 2023 class, according to major recruiting services. He committed to

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

on March 9, 2022, after receiving offers from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, SMU and

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

College career

Arizona

Freshman

In his college debut, Lewis scored 8 points off the bench along with four rebounds, four assists and five steals in a 122–59 win over Morgan State. Lewis scored a career high 18 points against

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

on March 7, 2024, helping Arizona to a 88–65 win. Following the 2024 season, Lewis tested the

NBA draft The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...

waters but turned down a G League Elite Camp invite and decided to return for his Sophomore season.

Sophomore

Georgetown

Personal life

As a 10-year old, he drew a picture that said he was going to commit and play basketball at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

Career statistics

College

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References

External links

Arizona Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, KJ 2004 births Living people 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players Arizona Wildcats men's basketball players Basketball players from Texas Shooting guards