From one historic program to another, Michael Lewis is now tied to two of the biggest college basketball programs in the game. Playing for Indiana from 1996-00, Lewis was fortunate enough to play under Bob Knight and eventually begin his coaching career under Knight at Texas Tech. He now serves as an assistant at UCLA.
"I've been really lucky," Lewis said to Indiana Sports Beat. "Growing up where I grew up… there wasn’t anywhere else to play at that time.. to play at IU for Coach Knight and then get into coaching and coach under Coach Knight and work my way up and now out at UCLA. I realize how lucky I am. You try to be as prepared as you can and when those opportunites arise, try to take advantage of it.”
Lewis entered an Indiana program that had large amounts of success right before his arrival. While the same cannot be said for his entrance at UCLA, expectations out west are still extremely high.
"I think when you are at a place like UCLA with the history and the tradition the expectations are always going to be there," Lewis said. "The fans are great and it's been really special.”
During a season in which the Bruins started off 8-9 under first year Head Coach Mick Cronin, nobody could see the massive turnaround that was about to happen. UCLA went 11-3 to close the season before its PAC-12 Tournament was cut short before even playing a game. Despite that, it was a very successful season and one that Lewis was proud to be a part of.
"It was a really cool experience to watch all of that unfold," Lewis explained. "Whenever you take over any program there are some changes and things you want to do differently. You know we started off 8-9 and things weren’t looking too good, but one thing I've learned and watching Coach Cronin handle everything is he was relentless and did not compromise his culture, how he wanted it done and how he wanted us to play... it just happened a little bit quicker than anticipated."
Having a season that exceeded expectations, following it up with sustained success is the hard part but Lewis believes the right steps have already been taken to do so.
"Mick's big thing is this isn't somebody else's players, these are UCLA's players, our players," Lewis emphasized. "You have to give the guys on the team a lot of credit, there was a lot of individual growth..that stuff doesn’t happen over night and it doesn’t happen unless you have a great leader of the program."
"He [Mick Cronin] absolutely demands it that way and if you don’t want to be a part of it, then go somewhere else," Lewis added. "These guys understood what Mick was looking for and bought in.”
Part of that culture change was a bit of a shock to the style of play UCLA fans were used to seeing. Mick Cronin was always a 'win at any cost' coach at Cincinnati and some people were worried how that would translate to the PAC-12 style. For Lewis, winning is winning.
"You have to find a way to win the game. You can do all these other things but there comes a time when you have to step in the ring.. have to find a way to win the game and it doesn’t have to be pretty," Lewis said. "Have a team that is built and have some character in them to get the job done. We are beginning to build that in our guys and they are starting to figure out what it takes to win."
The biggest change in culture? The players mentality. Lewis is excited to see exactly that next season.
"What I'm exicted to see from a coaching standpoint is when these new guys come in is it player led or coach led? Once it starts to get to more player led than coach driven then we are starting to build something." Lewis added.
Until then, Lewis has put the coaching on hold and is enjoying being at home with his family. Usually on the road to recruit and evaluate players, he is trying to soak everything in and do his part to help speed up the quarantine process.
“This is a challenge for everybody. You try to find the silver lining in all of it.. spending some time with family," Lewis said. "I think when you are put in these type of situations, you kinda reorganize things in your life and realize what is important and everyone has to keep doing their part in their small world."
Not being able to do much out of the house is starting to get to Lewis, but help is on the way.
"I'm so bored right now," Lewis said. "I ordered a floating green for my pool and it has a tee mat. I'm going to make a little nine-hole chipping course in my backyard. I even restarted my PlayStation and won three Super Bowls in Madden."
Don't think Lewis has missed the call on getting together virtually with his friends, however.
"Virtual happy hours. Everyone has been to a happy hour… my wife and I have one with some high school friends," Lewis added. "We just get two chairs sit out and FaceTime in and have a virtual happy hour. It’s been a good way to reconnect."
To listen to the rest of the interview and more, check out the tweet below.
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.
