Tom Lewis stepping away after unexpected run full of success leading Williamston boys basketball
Tom Lewis felt like he was in no way meant to be a higher college basketball mentor.
But instances led to him acquiring his way on the sidelines at Williamston High School.
Lewis initially joined the Hornets boys basketball software as an assistant when Jason Bauer was looking for assist. The obligations grew when Bauer became ill for the duration of the 2016 point out match, forcing Lewis to slide in excess of into the head chair.
Which is in which Lewis has been due to the fact, primary one of Better Lansing’s top boys basketball courses.
He is now stepping away right after guiding the Hornets to a Division 2 condition championship in March and remaining named the coach of the calendar year by the Linked Push.
“Actually going into this year, I imagined it was going to be my last,” Lewis said. “The moment all the things occurred, it was a ton more durable than I believed. I talked to my guys that are returning gamers and everything — it wasn’t easy, but it just was time.
“I type of felt like I was hardly ever meant to be a large university mentor. I type of took more than and stored heading and going and going. We ended up having achievement and I was creating interactions with my players and almost everything like that. That was really particular.”
Lewis considered now as the great time to move absent with the Hornets coming off an undefeated season that bundled the program’s to start with state title since 1940. He also believes the youth plan is in a good location.
Below Lewis, the Hornets thrived and overcame adversity like the dying of Bauer in 2018 and when standout Jay Wallace missing his father during his junior year. Lewis prided himself on the relationships he created during a tenure that highlighted a prosperity of achievement for the Hornets.
“When I took above, that was not a hard point for me to do for the reason that I had coached high school amount youngsters in AAU,” Lewis reported. “I guess it was much more worthwhile than I assumed possessing children various yrs, acquiring gamers. As I got into that one particular 12 months, two years (in demand) I started out to really feel like this is my method and I truly needed to develop a youth application. I just acquired entrenched. I cherished it. I loved just about every moment of it.”
Now Lewis is heading to take pleasure in time with his lifetime not remaining dominated by basketball. Lewis experienced been seriously consumed with the sport due to the fact his son Riley began actively playing and then with also next his daughter, Kenzie.
“It appeared like each and every 12 months staying obsessed with that fourth trophy – it was absolutely an obsession,” Lewis explained of the drive to acquire a state championship.
“The sum of time that I set in this calendar year, I never know if I could replicate that one more year without staying harmful. I’m just stepping back again and heading to appreciate lifestyle a little little bit and be with my spouse and children. My family is even now definitely hectic. I am just not likely to have the orange ball dominate my lifetime year spherical.”
Get in touch with Brian Calloway at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @brian_calloway.
This report originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Williamston boys basketball coach Tom Lewis methods down
