Season averages:
Points – 12.2
Rebounds – 3.0
Assists – 5.3
Steals – 1.9
Field goal percentage – 45.6%
Three point percentage – 27%
Free throw percentage – 58.3%
Assist-to-turnover ratio – 2.41/1
Season Highs:
Points – 26 at Georgetown
Rebounds – 7 vs Georgetown and at Xavier
Assists – 12 vs Xavier
Steals – 5 at Butler
Threes made – 3 at Georgetown
Overall thoughts:
It’s uncomfortable to think where Villanova would have been this year had Lewis not committed on May 1. In all likelihood, the Wildcats would have had to start
Chris Jeffrey out of the gates with Devin Askew’s injury. Throughout the year, Lewis was Villanova’s first or second most irreplaceable player.
The freshman from Washington, DC started every game for the Wildcats this year and averaged over 30 minutes per game. Lewis was selected to the All-Big East second team and was second in the conference in assists per game. The 6’2” freshman was the straw that stirred the Villanova drink, and his floor game combined perfectly with both Duke Brennan and Matt Hodge off of screens. Lewis has some of the best court vision that I’ve seen from a freshman in recent memory. When getting downhill, Lewis is able to finish with either hand near the rim at a high level. I couldn’t get enough of his layup package. Dare I say it was Kyrie-esque.
Lewis’ first season drew a number of parallels to Ryan Arcidiacono’s freshman campaign. Lewis came to Villanova in a down time, started immediately as a freshman, and led the Wildcats back to the tournament. Unfortunately, another parallel is that the Wildcats lost in the 8/9 game. Hopefully, those parallels continue into year two with a jump to a high seed in the tournament.
Where Lewis needs to improve dramatically is in his free-throw and three-point shooting. He rightfully has designs on playing in the NBA someday, and being able to shoot is a must for any shorter guard. Lewis was better as a catch-and-shoot player than off the dribble, but seeing as the ball is in his hands much of the time, he needs to become significantly more efficient in that regard. And simply put: you cannot shoot under 60% from the free-throw line as a guard. Hopefully next season, that percentage is north of 70%.
If Lewis can make those improvements to his shooting, as well as add some strength, there’s no reason to believe that he wouldn’t be on the preseason All-Big East team, and potentially the preseason Big East Player of the Year. And with those preseason honors will come high expectations. Lewis will undoubtedly be compensated more in the coming season, and with that he will be expected to be more impactful in the most important moments.
Regardless, his first season as a Villanova Wildcat was a massive success. I emphasize first season, as I sincerely hope he’s back in the blue and white next year. He’s the exact kind of guard that you try to build around.
