Alabama Basketball: Kira Lewis elects to remain in 2020 NBA Draft
Alabama Basketall’s best player who previously declared for the NBA Draft without an agent has announced his intentions to remain in the Draft, with an agent.
Alabama basketball has had their fair share of great players over the past couple seasons, it started with Collin Sexton and after Sexton, Kira Lewis stepped in. In his two seasons with Alabama, Lewis was the Tide’s leading scorer both seasons despite being the youngest player in the nation in his freshman season.
It’s Time⏰ pic.twitter.com/vlIMHvOzVs
— Kira Lewis Jr. (@kiralewisjr) April 21, 2020
In his freshman season, Lewis averaged 13.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game with 0.8 steals as well. Unfortunately for Lewis and Alabama, the Crimson Tide fell just short of the NCAA Tournament and wound up as the second team out giving them a one seed in the NIT.
Because Alabama failed to make the tournament, lost in the first round of the NIT and for several other reasons, Alabama parted ways with head coach Avery Johnson after Lewis’ freshman season and with that, they hired Nate Oats.
Between his freshman and sophomore seasons, Lewis won the gold medal in the FIBA 2019 Men’s Basketball U19 World Cup with Team USA.
In his sophomore season with Alabama, we saw a huge improvement in play as the Crimson Tide changed the way they played under new head coach Nate Oats. Alabama was now shooting more threes, was one of the fastest playing teams in the nation and because of this, players like Kira Lewis reaped the benefits.
In his sophomore season, Lewis averaged 18.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.2 assists with 1.8 steals to go with it. This is five points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and one steal higher than his numbers from his freshman season.
If he can do this in one season at Alabama, who’s to say he wouldn’t be able to make an even bigger jump in the NBA? In many mock drafts, Lewis is projected in the mid-20s range.
Lewis helped Alabama build for the future and is a huge reason why the Crimson Tide are set to be one of the best teams in the SEC in the 2020-21 season following his departure. Lewis made an unmeasurable impact on the Alabama basketball program and this will be felt long after he is gone.
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Despite the fact that Lewis never got the opportunity to play in the NCAA Tournament with Alabama, he leaves as one of the best players to go through Tuscaloosa in recent memory and will leave with the potential to make the Crimson Tide very proud at the next level.