There are few things in life as sweet as returning home. While I’m sure winning a national championship with UCLA this season is up there as well, a sweet home state return is in the future for IU great and Bruins assistant Michael Lewis.
On Friday Ball State University officially named Coach Lewis as their next head coach of men’s basketball as they look to rebuild things after finishing up their third losing season in four years.
Back home again in Indiana.
Introducing the head coach of @BallStateMBB: Michael Lewis!
🎟️ https://t.co/jxJbvjhdpe#ChirpChirp x #WeFly pic.twitter.com/tgOH9klOWI
— Ball State Sports (@BallStateSports) March 25, 2022
Coach Lewis arrives in Muncie after three seasons as an assistant under Mick Cronin at UCLA which featured a Final Four appearance last year and an ongoing run that matches up with North Carolina in the Sweet 16 tonight.
Lewis has also had stops at Butler where he was an assistant under Brad Stevens and Texas Tech where he began his coaching career as a grad assistant under Coach Bob Knight. Along the way he also had stops at Nebraska, Eastern Illinois, Stephen F. Austin as an assistant.
Prior to his coaching career Lewis was an elite guard for Coach Knight at Indiana where he still sits second on the Hoosiers all-time assists leaderboard.
For Ball State the hope is the Coach Lewis will restore balance and stability to a program that aims to get back to competing for MAC Championships and hopefully earn the Cardinals a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.
The first words from @CoachMikeLewis.
🎟️ https://t.co/MV46ArWqru#ChirpChirp x #WeFly pic.twitter.com/KePsHCDCxf
— Ball State Men’s Basketball (@BallStateMBB) March 25, 2022
This afternoon Coach Lewis took some time to stop by The Dan Dakich Show to take us through what it means to be returning to his home state and what vision he has for Cardinals basketball.
.@UCLAMBB coach Mick Cronin on assistant Michael Lewis: “Ball State is getting a rising star.”
Lewis, an Indiana native, has been hired to be the Cardinals’ head coach. https://t.co/abnpNC6zvp
— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) March 25, 2022
Coach Lewis also stressed that he is looking forward to getting to know the players waiting for him in Muncie, but that he’s still focused on helping his guys under Coach Cronin at UCLA complete their goal of winning a national title.
Of course, while we had him, we also had Coach give us a preview of Bruins-Tar Heels tonight in the Sweet 16 and what UCLA will need to do to advance to the Elite Eight.
Give the chat with Coach Lewis a listen below and don’t miss The Dan Dakich Show, weekdays 12-3pm Eastern, on The Fan.
