Following up on a rumor from Monday (Daily Dirt – 5/2/16)…University of Nebraska men’s basketball coach Tim Miles announced the hiring of Michael Lewis as an assistant coach for the Husker basketball program. Lewis comes to Nebraska after spending the past five seasons at Butler University.
During his five years at Butler, the Bulldogs made four postseason appearances, including three NCAA appearances. In each of the three NCAA appearances, the Bulldogs won at least one NCAA game, including wins over Texas (2015) and Teas Tech (2016) over the last two seasons. He was also part of a Butler program which orchestrated the fourth-best win improvement in BIG EAST history in 2014-15.
In his tenure at Butler, he coached four players who combined for six all-conference awards, including a trio of first-team honorees.
Miles said that Lewis’ experiences as both a player and coach made him an ideal choice to join the Husker coaching staff.
“Practice makes perfect, and I believe we have a perfect fit for Nebraska Basketball in Michael Lewis,” Miles said. “He was an excellent player at Indiana playing for the legendary Bob Knight, and he’s been in the NCAA tournament as a player and as a coach time and time again. In the coaching profession, he’s had a wealth of experience helping build programs, and while at Butler, he’s gone head to head in recruiting and competition with the best of the best. Those experiences and Michael’s work ethic and character will benefit our program immensely. He has a great family, and we welcome his wife, Nichole, and daughters, Avery and Emma, to the Husker Family.”
In 2015-16, the Bulldogs went 22-11 before falling to Virginia in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Three players earned All-Big East honors, including second-team selections Roosevelt Jones and Kelan Martin. In addition, he helped recruit a class which was rated among the nation’s best by Rivals in 2016.
Lewis, well-known as a prep and college basketball player in Indiana, was invited to be part of the Villa 7 Consortium in 2015, which brings together university athletic directors and the country’s elite assistant coaches in an effort to prepare the next generation of college basketball leaders.
Lewis was named an assistant men’s basketball coach at Butler in May of 2011. He joined the Bulldogs’ staff after spending six seasons as an assistant basketball coach at Eastern Illinois University.
Lewis had a successful stint at Eastern Illinois, where he was named one of the “Top 5” assistant coaches in the Ohio Valley Conference by FoxSports.com in 2010. He was responsible for recruiting several top players to Eastern Illinois, including 2009-10 All-OVC players Tyler Laser and James Hollowell. He helped the Panthers to a 19-12 mark in 2009-10, the third-highest win total since Eastern Illinois became a Division I program.
The Jasper, Ind., native left Eastern Illinois to join the staff of new head coach Porter Moser at Loyola, before accepting the position at Butler. He also served as an assistant coach for one season (2004-05) at Stephen F. Austin and for two seasons as a graduate assistant under Coach Bob Knight at Texas Tech.
A talented backcourt player, Lewis had a successful undergraduate career at Indiana from 1997 to 2000. He was a team captain and earned third team All-Big Ten honors as a senior, when he was also named MVP of the 1999 Hoosier Classic. He was named to the Big Ten All-Star Team that toured Europe in 1997, and he finished his collegiate career as Indiana’s all-time leader in assists with 545. In 2012, Lewis was picked No. 46 on a list of the Top 50 players all-time at Indiana compiled by the Indianapolis Star.
Following his graduation from Indiana in 2000, he played professional basketball for two seasons both domestically and overseas.
Lewis had an outstanding high school career at Jasper High School in Indiana, and he finished his prep playing days in 13th place on Indiana’s all-time high school scoring list with 2,138 career points. The 1996 Jasper graduate was named to the Indiana All-Star Team following a senior season that saw him named the Gatorade Player of the Year.
Lewis earned a master’s degree from Texas Tech in 2004. He and his wife, Nichole, have two daughters, Avery and Emma.
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