WILBERFORCE, Ohio-On a typical fall day early in the pre-season, Central State University men’s basketball head coach Doug Lewis Jr. is doing what he has always done around the game of basketball. He is simply “getting after it.” To understand that phrase is to understand what has made Coach Lewis one of the best and most successful young Head Coaches in College Basketball.
It all started for Coach Lewis early in his career. Born in South Bend, Indiana, and raised in Milwaukee Wisconsin, Coach Lewis learned the game at an early age. Coach Lewis played for Rufus High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Playing under Wisconsin High School coaching legend James Gordon, who also developed NBA guard Latrell Spreewell, Coach Lewis learned that just showing up and joking around was not good enough. “Coach Gordon would say “Play hard or don’t play at all.” I was a jokester, and Coach Gordon told me that until I took things seriously all the time I would not play. He was a second Father to me and not only did he teach me the game of basketball, but he gave me life skills. He would never let me slack on the court and he cultivated an attitude in me that helped me understand what it takes to win.” And win he did, leading his high school team to a Wisconsin State Title, and a perfect 24-0 record his senior year.
After his successful high school career, Coach Lewis went on to lead the team at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Arizona, to a National Junior College Division-I Tournament Final Four appearance. He played at Mesa from 85-87, during which years he also won two conference championships and earned all-conference and all-region honors. Coach Lewis also received honors as one of the five best junior college point guards in the nation. Following his freshmen and sophomore years at Mesa, Coach Lewis landed at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. He was the “Newcomer of the Year” in the Mid-Continent Conference and he led the Bears to two conference championships. Coach Lewis also led the Bears to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.
After college, Coach Lewis still had aspirations of playing the game of basketball at the professional level. “I tried out for the New Jersey Nets but I got cut”, said Lewis. “Then I started experiencing a lot of injuries which really cut my playing career short. I was very fortunate to always play for very good coaches in my career. I knew I wanted to be around the game but coaching was really a second option for me.” That second option turned out in the long run to be a pretty good one for Lewis.
Coach Lewis’ first coaching job would come under the very coaching legend that got it all started for him. As an assistant for James Gordon at Washington High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Coach Lewis learned to refine his playing knowledge into the coaching knowledge he would need to make his teams successful. “When I played, I played 100% all the time” said Lewis. “I knew I wanted to coach players into mirroring that playing style.” That season Washington High School won the 1993 Division I - Wisconsin High School State Basketball Championship.
Coach Lewis’ next job took him into the fast paced NCAA Division-I ranks. Coach Lewis served as an assistant for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Men’s Basketball program from 1993-1998. He played a leading role in landing the best recruiting class in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference for the 1996-97 season. He also learned was introduced into the tricky world of college recruiting. Dealing with parents, contacting high school coaches, and trying to give potential players the best glimpse of what his program had to offer were only some of the challenges on the coaching learning curve. “The University of Milwaukee Wisconsin job really taught me what not to do. And I learned how to recruit student athletes”, says Lewis.
Coach Lewis came to Central State in July of 1998 where he was first introduced as the associate head coach for the Marauders coaching staff. In that position, he helped the Marauders to an 81-59 record in five seasons under former head coach Michael Grant. Lewis recalls, “Coach Grant was a great team guy, he gave me a lot responsibility and molded me into a head coach. He let me do things on my own and do them my way.”
Then, in May of 2003, Coach Lewis took over the reigns as Central States’ Head Coach. During his six seasons, Coach Lewis’ teams have established a very impressive 103-54 overall record. During the 2006-2007 season, Lewis guided the Marauders to the Independent Athletic Association Tournament championship game, and a 22-5 overall record. The 2007-2008 campaign marked a 21-4 record and the Marauders first Independent Athletic Association championship. Most recently, the Marauders 2008-2009 season heralded a 19-8 overall record, a second IAAC Championship and top IAAC honors for several players. Most impressive however, is Coach Lewis being named IAAC 2009 Coach of the Year. "It's a great honor to be named IAAC Coach of the Year. I must give credit to my coaching staff. My assistants are among the best college coaches in the country. We work so well together and I feel like this award should be changed to Staff of the Year. I am blessed to have such a great coaching staff and talented players who really deserve all the credit." The kindness and humbleness of those remarks is a trademark of Coach Lewis’ personality.
The only place you won’t find Coach Lewis quite so kind and humble is in the middle of one of his famous “Let’s get after it” practices. Lewis coined the phrase early in his coaching career when he wanted to let his players know what was expected of them when they walked on the court. “‘Let’s get after it,’ basically means that when we show up on the court we are going to give it everything we’ve got. To be the best, we need to make our time out on the court the best it can be. We play an up-tempo, in your face, defensive minded style of basketball that you better be ready for. Championship teams are solid half-court man-to-man teams. We like to press out of time outs and free throws, but being solid is what we teach. We push the ball on offense when we can but we play a team game. Getting after it everyday in practice, is the only way to be a Championship team. We don’t take practices off, we don’t take plays off, and we certainly don’t take games off. We get after it all the time, our practices are always at game speed and they are very structured and intense,” commented Lewis.
As his Marauders look forward to the 2009-2010 season Coach Lewis is clear about the state of the program. He remarks, “We have a solid program and we are attracting kids because we win games. The next step is to compete for a National Championship. We are almost there.”
“Getting after it,” will be the only way Central State can continue their string of successful seasons. This season marks the toughest schedule in Coach Lewis’ six-season tenure at Central State. “We have twenty-two NCAA Division II games, and nineteen regional contests,” said Lewis. This season also marks the first year the Marauders will be eligible to play in the NCAA Division-II National Tournament. "Our schedule this year will really have us ready for the tournament.” Pre-season games against Division-I schools Wright State and Toledo will give both coach and players a good sense of where the program stands, and what kind of season may be in store for them. Of course, Central State has played against tough competition before. Last year they battled the eventual NCAA Division-II National Champion University of Findlay Oilers (34-0) to a tough game on the road. The year before when Findlay came to the Marauders Beacom/Lewis Gymnasium, the nationally ranked Oilers had an equally tough time with the Marauders, escaping with a 5 point win, but not before the Marauders had them on the ropes only down 2 points with 25 seconds left in the game. The style of play that teams face when they match up with Central State always gives the Marauders a chance in the game, especially when they are “getting after it.”
No matter how tough the competition, no matter who the opponent, no matter what the situation, one can count on Coach Doug Lewis and his Central State Marauders definitely “getting after it” this season. And should you venture onto the Campus of Central State University, and make it into Beacom/Lewis Gymnasium for one of the Marauders games this season, you too can see and experience for yourself what “getting after it” really means.