Men's Basketball

Michael Lewis
Michael Lewis
  • Title:
    Assistant Coach

Michael Lewis served as an assistant coach at UCLA for three seasons. He helped lead the Bruins’ program to a 68-30 record from 2019-20 through 2021-22. UCLA advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2021 and to the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 in 2022.
 
Lewis joined UCLA’s program in May of 2019 after serving as an assistant coach at Nebraska for the previous three seasons. A former standout guard at Indiana University (1997-2000), Lewis had been an assistant coach for 18 seasons before accepting the role of head men’s basketball coach at Ball State in March of 2022.
 
Through three years at UCLA, he played a significant role in helping the Bruins to a 68-30 record and a 40-17 mark in Pac-12 play. UCLA advanced to the Final Four in 2021 for the first time since three consecutive trips in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In addition, he helped the Bruins to second-place Pac-12 finishes in 2019-20 and 2021-22 and to a fourth-place finish in 2020-21.
 
During Lewis’ three season at UCLA, the Bruins had five players who earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors – Tyger Campbell in 2021 and 2022, Jaime Jaquez Jr. in 2022, Johnny Juzang in 2022 and Chris Smith in 2020. In 2021-22, UCLA had three of the Pac-12’s five players on the conference’s all-defensive team, with Jaquez Jr., Jaylen Clark and Myles Johnson.
 
In 2021-22, UCLA went 27-8 overall and reached the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year. The Bruins finished in second place in the Pac-12 standings (15-5 record) and was the runner-up at the Pac-12 Tournament. UCLA was ranked No. 1 in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (64.5 ppg allowed) for the first time since 1973-74. In addition, UCLA ranked No. 2 in the conference in scoring offense (75.4 ppg). The Bruins were ranked among the top 20 teams in every top-25 poll (AP and Coaches) throughout the season.
 
Lewis’ work with the guards was most productive with the development of Bruins’ point guard Tyger Campbell. A two-time first-team All-Pac-12 guard (in 2020-21 and 2021-22), Campbell has ranked among the top three in the Pac-12 in assists per game in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22. As a junior in 2021-22, Campbell moved into the top-10 on UCLA’s career assists list.
 
In 2020-21, Lewis helped UCLA register a 22-10 record and a 13-6 mark in the Pac-12. The Bruins opened its Pac-12 schedule with eight consecutive wins, the program’s best such conference start since opening with a 9-0 record in 1982-83 (in Pac-10 play). UCLA finished in fourth place in the Pac-12, behind a trio of NCAA Tournament-bound teams (Oregon, USC and Colorado). The Bruins were one of five Pac-12 teams to advance to the NCAA Tournament and one of four (with Oregon, USC and Oregon State) to advance to the Sweet 16. UCLA’s Final Four appearance took place after five consecutive wins, including a First Four victory in overtime against Michigan State.
 
In 2019-20, Lewis helped the Bruins manufacture a strong mid-season turnaround. UCLA went 19-12 overall and won 11 of its final 14 games. The team finished second in the Pac-12 with a 12-6 mark, securing the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. Mick Cronin became the Bruins’ first head coach to be named Pac-12 Coach of the Year since 2006 (Ben Howland).
 
UCLA concluded the 2019-20 season as one of the Pac-12’s most successful rebounding teams. The Bruins outrebounded their opposition in 24 of 31 games. UCLA led the conference in rebounding margin (+5.6 rpg) and offensive rebounds per game (11.9). In all, the Bruins ranked in the top-35, nationally, in each of those rebounding categories.
 
As a junior in 2019-20, Chris Smith was named the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player of the Year, in addition to securing first-team All-Pac-12 honors. Tyger Campbell was pivotal to the Bruins’ success after having missed the 2018-19 season with a left knee injury (torn ACL). Campbell led the Pac-12 in assist-turnover ratio (2.79), ranked third in the league in assists per game (5.0) and was fourth in total assists (156).
 
Prior to arriving at UCLA, Lewis played a major role at Nebraska in helping with the development of the team’s guards, in addition to preparation with opponent scouting. He served as the program’s offensive coordinator in 2017-18 and 2018-19, guiding Nebraska to 41 wins in those two seasons. That marked Nebraska’s best two-year win total since compiling 45 wins in 1990-91 and 1991-92. In three seasons in Lincoln, Neb., Lewis helped the Huskers to a 53-47 mark, the program’s best three-year win total in nearly 10 years.
 
In 2017-18, Nebraska recorded its highest scoring average in 22 seasons, as the Huskers finished fourth in the Big Ten Conference with a school-record 13 league victories before reaching the National Invitational Tournament (NIT). Lewis helped to develop James Palmer Jr., who secured first-team All-Big Ten acclaim and averaged 17.2 points per game in his first season with Nebraska. In 2017, Tai Webster captured second-team all-league honors, having set career highs in both scoring and assists. Glynn Watson was among the Big Ten’s leaders in scoring and steals.
 
Lewis was instrumental in Butler’s success during a five-year stint with the Bulldogs from 2011-16. Through those five seasons, Butler went 108-63 and had four postseason appearances, including three NCAA Tournament berths. The Bulldogs won at least 20 games in four of Lewis’ five seasons on the coaching staff, including a 27-win campaign in 2012-13 (overall record of 27-9). While at Butler, Lewis worked on coaching staffs for head coaches Brad Stevens (2012-13), Brandon Miller (2013-14) and Chris Holtmann (2014-16).
 
In each of three trips to the NCAA Tournament while at Butler, the Bulldogs won at least one game, including victories over Texas in 2015 and Texas Tech in 2016. He was also part of a Butler squad that orchestrated the fourth-best win improvement in Big East history (2014-15).
 
Lewis coached four players at Butler who combined for six all-conference awards, including a trio of first-team selections. Three of his players garnered CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades, while Kellen Dunham and Alex Barlow combined to earn three consecutive Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards during Lewis’ tenure at Butler.
 
During the 2015-16 campaign, Butler compiled a 22-11 overall record and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Three players from that team earned All-Big East honors, including second-team selections Roosevelt Jones and Kelan Martin. Lewis helped recruit an incoming class that was ranked among the nation’s best by Rivals.com in 2016.
 
Lewis, well-known as a prep and college basketball standout in the state of Indiana, was invited to be part of the Villa 7 Consortium in 2015, which brings together university athletic directors and the nation’s elite assistant coaches to help them prepare to become the next generation of college basketball leaders.
 
Lewis coached at Eastern Illinois for six seasons, prior to joining Butler’s program in May 2011. While at Eastern Illinois (Charleston, Ill.), Lewis was named one of the “Top Five” assistant coaches in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) by FoxSports.com in 2010. He helped recruit several talented student-athletes to Eastern Illinois, including all-conference selections Tyler Laser and James Hollowell (both secured All-OVC acclaim in 2009-10). Lewis helped the Panthers compile a 19-12 overall mark in 2009-10, the third-highest win total since Eastern Illinois became a Division I program.
 
Lewis, who hails from Jasper, Ind., was a standout guard at Indiana University under head coach Bob Knight from 1997-2000. He served as a graduate assistant for Knight for two seasons at Texas Tech before spending the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin. He earned his master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies from Texas Tech in 2004.
 
As a senior at Indiana (1999-00), Lewis served as team captain and secured third-team All-Big Ten honors. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 1999 Hoosier Classic and concluded his collegiate career as Indiana’s all-time leader in career assists (545). He now ranks second in career assists at his alma mater, as Yogi Ferrell had 633 assists from 2012-15. Lewis and Keith Smart are Indiana’s only two players to have logged a program-record 15 single-game assists. Lewis finished with 15 assists at Iowa in the Hoosiers’ regular-season finale on Feb. 28, 1998. In addition, he led Indiana in assists per game as a sophomore (1998), junior (1999) and senior (2000).
 
Named to the Big Ten Conference’s All-Star Team that toured Europe in 1997, Lewis was later selected (in 2012) as the No. 46 player, on a list of 50 top players, from Indiana University (compiled by the Indianapolis Star). He earned his undergraduate degree in sports management from Indiana in 2000 before playing professional basketball for two seasons, both domestically and overseas.
 
Lewis, 44, finished his high school career in 13th place on Indiana’s all-time high school scoring list with 2,138 career points at Jasper High School. He was named to the Indiana All-Star Team in 1996, following a senior season in which he captured Gatorade State Player of the Year acclaim.
 
Lewis and his wife, Nichole, have two daughters, Avery and Emma.