A year ago today, Acaden Lewis was still a Kentucky Basketball commit, and, knowing how the season played out, he would have been a huge player to have. Once Jaland Lowe went down, no one could initiate offense for others. It worked occasionally with Denzel Aberdeen, but as we all watched against Iowa State, too often it just fell apart.
On April 10th, Lewis decided he no longer wanted to play in Lexington and opted to go to Villanova. From a career standpoint, it probably made the most sense. Mark
Pope was not going to promise any significant playing time; he likes to spread the minutes around, plus Villanova had a lead guard spot open. His season went pretty good; he averaged 12 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds a night, playing 30 minutes a game.
Only 2 players averaged more than 30 minutes a game for Kentucky, and that is with all the injuries. Without those injuries, and no one could have predicted them, I don’t think Lewis comes close to the 30 a night he got with Nova.
Now, though, he has decided to take his talent to another program or perhaps the NBA. In a statement released yesterday, Lewis thanked his coaches, his teammates, and Villanova fans for allowing him to play the “game he loved,” before declaring he would be going through the NBA Draft process while entering the Transfer Portal.
Acaden Lewis has NBA dreams
The fact that the NBA process was mentioned first is a pretty good clue of what he really wants to do. But hedging is always the right move, especially in today’s NIL world. If he doesn’t like the feedback he gets with a loaded class, he could find another school to continue to get better.
I wouldn’t think he would be interested in Kentucky’s pitch this time around after rebuffing them at the last minute last year, but stranger things have happened.
Do you think Lewis could end up in Lexington after all?
