Nick J Lewis has been at St Thomas More Prep school this season
Nick J Lewis is a name a lot of ballers recognise, and a guy I have had a lot of people asking about on the site. When he was last in the UK, the 6’2 guard averaged 31 and 12 assists per game in U18 National League and had a number of pretty big games that made the basketball community take notice, including dropping 51 and 14 assists in a British Colleges semi final game and a 76 point game in secondary school (yeah I know it’s secondary school, but still, 76?!).
Nick first went out to the US in the summer of 2008 to attending the Reebok-Invitational Basketball Camp in New Jersey. He turned a lot of heads with his play, resulting in him attending South Plainfield High School (NJ). In his only season there (08/09) he was named High School player of the week twice, made the All-State Junior Team and was ranked by Scout.com and NjHoops.com as one of the top 250 players in the country (232) whilst averaging a nice 17 points and 9 assists per game.
On completing the season, in the summer of ’09 he played for the New Jersey Demons on the AUU circuit, Luol Deng’s former team, before committing to St Thomas More Prep in Connecticut on a scholarship, to play under Jerry Quinn, the 2nd best ranked High School coach in the nation, where he has just finished.
At St Thomas More, his team finished 3rd in the Reebok National Prep Championships, losing to Brewster Academy in the semi finals. Nick received a lot of High Division 1 interest during the live recruiting period from August till October, but unfortunately got injured before the 09-10 season began, sustaining a minor menisci tear in the knee. As a result of the injury he didn’t play until this January, perhaps scaring off a few of the interested teams.
Talking about his year at St Thomas More in a recent interview with This Is Derbyshire, he said
“Being in America was great, St Thomas More is an all boys Catholic School, of similar prestige to that of Repton School in Derbyshire. Everything is really back to basics there and you have to pass an entry exam to get in. I had to dig in but I really excelled academically and got lots of As and Bs.”
Lewis is currently looking at 2 options; he will either do a Post Graduate Year, or he can go to a Junior College for 1 year. He still needs a few credits to be accepted by the NCAA Clearing House.
It’s looking like the favoured option is going to a JUCO in California for 1 year before hopefully transferring to a D1 programme.
This summer he is back in England for a few months playing for the Wales men’s senior team competing in Division C of the FIBA European Championships, a competition he hopes will put him in favour with Team GB selectors;
“To represent my country at the Olympics would be a great honour. Hopefully, the European Championships will be my chance to shine and get a place at the 2012 games.”
Nick was invited to the GB U20′s trials last year but due to being in the States couldn’t make it. It seems like his dream doesn’t stop with 2012 either, continuing on;
“My aim is still to play in the NBA one day.”
*Huge thanks to Steve King, one of his coaches in the UK who got in touch recently and via a rather back and forth email correspondence kindly got me up to date with Nick’s situation making this writeup possible.
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{ 44 comments… read them below or add one }
Heard some good and some mixed things aboout this guy, would love to see some sort of footage of him ballin’.
A couple of clips of him in the Midnight Madness Nottingham video
Great kid. Great attitude. Has the drive to reach the top.
Saw him play last year at the RAF Final Fours back in 2008. Against Hackney White Heat in the 3rd/4th place game.
He had 33 and attacked the rim better then anybody ive seen.
Haven t Seen him play since then obviously because he has been in the States. Hopefully he will be at a MM Event this summer !!!
I was supposed 2 be playing for St.Thomas More this past season.
Didnt like the idea of all boys school, but Jerry Quinn is one name that every single coach in US knows.
All the best in future.
WALES MENS SQUAD ANNOUNCED TODAY (TO BE NARROWED DOWN TO 12 FOR THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS IN MALTA IN JULY)
1. Tony Berry
2. John Bateman
3. Anthony Trigg
4. Owen Williams
5. Rhys Williams
6. Jordan Seeley
7. Pete Arden
8. Alan Duppa
9. Matt Daw
10. Ioan Nickson
11. Andy St John
12. Ben Potts
13. Asa Waite
14. Ed Piggford
15. Mike Gregory
You got a source for this? Anywhere on the web I can find it? Thanks man
http://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_KNce8jInH7Qj1EsyH5rjn2.pageID_gnOZiVLNHFY49ydB7aOwG1.compID_Jvy4pg8IJ0MN4eTp8w6A,1.season_2010.roundID_7735.teamID_386.html
Thanks for the link, though what a.n.other has listed is a cut down version of that…so I’m after HIS source :)
NJ has the drive and determination to get where he wants to go. One of the hardest working lad I have ever seen.
Let’s see if he puts up. I have seen this lad play in the States. I was quite impressed.
Nick is a amazing point guard and a great player, i have seen him destroy the National League at the u18 level and everyone i know has spoken before about How good he is.
Being Ranked in the UNITED STATES is no joke, i only think one other player was and that was Luol Deng.
Bright future for him if he continues to develop and progress
Having spoken to a player who recently went to belguim with the welsh team (including NJ-Lewis), he tells me Nick did not do the best (to put it nicely) in the tournament and has now been dropped from the team.
STOP HATING !!!
I actually heard from sources that NJ will not be representing Wales in Malta due to the fact that he is unavailable because he is Training in the States whilst the tournament is on. However he is still in the Squad.
He’s the youngest member on the team anyway. and the reason he is not playing GB U20′s is because he missed practices at Christmas in Manchester and him and Tim Lewis do not see eye to eye.
That’s what i heard from 2 members of the GB U20 team.
what members told u this?
LDNallday-Thanks for posting that. I heard the same thing from a VERY RELIABLE source. I follow him very closely in the States. Thanks again for the clarification. I didn’t realise they were serving “Haterade” on here.
You are mistaken. The truth is NJ Lewis made himself available for the Wales National Team, but unfortunately was out of his depth and was not selected. This is not “haterade” or a personal attack, this is purely a statement of fact to clear up the issue.
Curious where these”facts” are coming from.
1. After reading the article above, it was clearly written with the help of NJ himself as well as his coach, who should therefore know his schedule and not list him as playing in a tournament when he has training commitments in the states.
2. If he did have training which meant he couldnt attend the European Championships, why didnt he make this known to selectors who wouldnt have wasted a spot on him for the recent trip to belgium.
3. If NJ has beef with Tim Lewis, why did Tim invite him to the trials? From Tims point of view in December, other kids made it back from the states, how come NJ didnt?
4. When you publicise in newspapers that can be read worldwide, that you have already made a squad that hasnt even been selected, you can understand so called ‘haters’.
5. James Gregory- comment of the day “only one British player has ever been ranked in the US”
How do you KNOW the article was written by NJ and his coach? Perhaps NJ’s school schedule was unable to be altered, therefore, making him unable to fly back. Your comments are clearly from your own thinking and offer NO PROOF, aside from your own opinion and reasoning. That doesn’t make factual.
“4. When you publicise in newspapers that can be read worldwide, that you have already made a squad that hasnt even been selected, you can understand so called ‘haters’.”
This sums it up personally, if you post lies, exaggerations, or assumptions on the internet, eventually you will be found out
ok just had a nice big glass of ‘haterade’ and now its time to clear a few things up. First of all ‘Nj’ is not 6’2, second of all these articles are written by ‘nj’ himself, family members and/or coaches that seem to have very limited knowledge of basketball. Who is steve king? Hardly a well known coach. Rex James – if you look at the bottom of the article it clearly says one of his coaches helped to write the article.
He didn’t make the Welsh team because he wasn’t good enough and got cut. He’s really clutching at straws when he claims he was never available to play. It would be easy to admit he got cut if he ddint make claims that hes already made the sqaud when he hadnt. The GB U20 team is probably harder to make than the Welsh team for guards so I doubt, even if he went to the trials that he would of got picked. From what I’ve seen Tim Lewis would hardly be a fan of his game or attitude/swagger. He doesnt have GB scouts looking at him, thats a stone cold lie. If he did there no doubt he’d be in either the GB U20 or U23 team.
South Plainfield are notr exactly a powerhouse, and I’m led to believe he attended there as he lived with family close by and just went to the school as a regular student, which anyone can do. To be fair to him he seemed to be at a pretty decent school this year, I’d like to see some stats on him from this past season. If he’s being recruited by D1′s does he have a rivals.com or scout.com profile? Or articles written about him by recruiting sites (not family/friends)?
If you lie/exxagerate on the internet your bound to get found out eventually, so why do it?
I wish him all the best, and the people that know him well (R.Toc I assume you are related to ‘NJ’?) say he has a good work ethic etc so i hope he continuesd to work hard, but he’s got his head in the clouds if he thinks hes going to play in the Olympics or NBA.
Rex James – before you comment again asking for ‘facts’ ask yourslef – can you disprove any of what I’ve just said.
Wow !!!!!! Alot of Hate going on.
I dont know Nj, But i have to be honest i have heard alot of good things about him over the past years.
All i can say is Instead of trying to write comments to Pull him down and to generate rumors, you should know the facts before making your own personal assumptions.
Stop Hating and go find something to do instead of going to the effort of writing half a page about random information you believe is true.
You just sound JEALOUS
I wish him all the best. Any one got Highlights ??
great player with enormous Potential and a nice guy to.
spoke to him last summer at the Nottingham Qualifier of MM Madness and we were talking about the states and life in the states.
I think people just need to Show LOVE , and embrace the fact that we have great young players like Nj in the states doing what he is doing.
NotImportant June 10, 2010 at 9:12 pm
“4. When you publicise in newspapers that can be read worldwide, that you have already made a squad that hasnt even been selected, you can understand so called ‘haters’.
He is in the Sqaud he just did not get selected to go to Belgium , may this be beacuse of his age or beacuse he has other commitments, either way the squad is on the FIBA Europe website and his name is there.
So i think NOTIMPORTNAT should know information before writting bullshit.
honestly butt, anyone that went to training was in the wales squad, he didnt get picked because he wasnt good enough
and since when has any training session (in the middle of july) been more important than an international competition where you’ve got GB scouts looking at you?? saying he has training whilst the tournament is going on is absolute bulls**t and another lie by ‘NJ’
ziggy 8 – are you serious with that comment?
Im not ‘hating’. I believe in telling it like it is, which is what im doing. Im not trying to pull anyone down, but as ‘NJ’ has clearly got his head in the clouds if he thinks hes going to be playing in the NBA/Olympics, he does need to be pulled back down to reality.
You claim not to know ‘NJ’ but then accuse me of making assumptions when i’ve seen him play several times. So if you’ve only heard about him (in articles witten by himself/family/friends) then you really have no place in this discussion.
Your accusing me of generating rumours?? Have you read these articles?
y is everyone hatin on ma boy ?…wtf
AS far as NJ not being in Belgium, get your “facts” straight. He WAS there. He trains like mad constantly in the States. And I also believe these are nothing but jealous rants and envy. How can you say he CAN’T make the NBA? WHO the hell are YOU do make that determination? It seems your just a fat lazy coward who talks big behind a computer. YOU obviously harbor some resentment towards him and can only manage to rip him on here. What? Did he kick your arse when you played footy as a child? Are you lonely and feeling unloved? And stop calling yourself NJs biggest fan” All you are is a disgrace and poor excuse for an individual.
haha i see how it is rex james, lose an arguement so you avoid questions and make personal attacks.
I never said he didnt go to belgium.
If he makes the NBA il take back everything i’ve said, until then…
Im done here, i’ve said what i need to, so go on rex, comment again, i’ll eve let you have the last word
I didn’t lose an argument. You brought nothing to the table that was worth arguing about. You talk about personal attacks when you did just that about NJ. I came back in his defence. You never gave your sources for your “information”. Now go back to your Pot Noodle or go out and have a run or something. Your computer monitor is making you a bit silly.
Rex James I believe you are the one embarrasing yourself. Accusing someone of being a fat computer geek just because he has posted on the internet is pathetic.
Nobody has ever claimed that he didnt go to Belgium, I said he was out of his depth and as a result was not selected. What was meant by that is that he wasnt selected in the 15 listed above. I can see how this could be perhaps a little ambiguous, so I’ll let slide your attempt to call my bluff. But next time you should do a little more thinking before accusing people of writing bullshit.
As for him being listed on the FIBA website players have to be registered for european tournaments months in advance, and most countries register all players the perceive to have a chance of making the squad. So it makes sense that the welsh coaches would register a player that has articles such as this one written about him.
I wasn’t planning on being negative towards the lad, but its hard not to be when reading an article such as this. It’s an insult to every young British player in the states, and makes a mockery of Welsh Basketball. And thus it is understandable that people would harbour some “resentment” towards him. The truth is that anyone who understands the game and has seen NJ play against decent players would know that the claims made in this article are farcical.
All that articles like this achieve is to create Nick Lewis haters, and embarrass the author, and website who amicably appear to be trying to show love to Brits abroad, but have obviously been given false or exaggerated information.
Also you are doing NJ himself a disservice as he appears to now have a number of haters in the UK. And has rather inflated goals. There is nothing wrong with aiming high, but perhaps Nick should focus on more attainable goals, such as making the Welsh team for the next tournament.
I appologise for the negative tone of this reply, and it genuinely wasnt my intention when I originally posted, but I believe that certain things needed to be said.
The Kid is Legit, an amazing player and a very humble polite person.
All Negative comments are obviously just Jealousy, people who go out of there way and spend time writing long responces obviously are bothered and feel threatened.
The Real Haters of Nj, would just keep quite and say nothing.
*News Just Through*
Nick declares for NBA Draft
NJ Lewis was today invited for a pre-draft workout with the LA Lakers. However, NJ could not make it as he had training for his High School and didnt see eye-to-eye with Phil Jackson. Still, he was the youngest in the workouts.
L-O-L
Actually, I’m his uncle. I have refrained from posting because of the level of jealously and more importantly, level of immaturity of some of the posters on here. I doubt very much the people bashing him on here really know him at all. You obviously have some sort of agenda against Nick to be wasting your time on here. Perhaps he slighted you in some way or didn’t give you time of day. If that’s the case, kudos to him for not wasting his time on you. As jamie_tomkinson wrote, the real “haters” wouldn’t even have bothered posting. So it is to believed by your school boy/girl thrashing that this goes deeper than this article. NJ will be fine. He already is FAR more mature than the infants on here and a much better person than. He wouldn’t engage in slanderous behaviour if one of you had been written up for something. He works hard and tries his hardest each and every day, which, judging by the childish comments and behaviour here, is more than most of you do. Regardless of what he does or accomplishes, he will always be in a better place in society than the people who throw negativity at him. People, grow up and go back to leading your own lives, let others live there’s You have absolutely NOTHING to gain here.
There is only so long you can keep quiet. I know I have ignored numerou articles about Nick which made ridiculous claims about him playing GB and going NBA. But when you claim to have already made a squad that A. Hasn’t already been picked and B. You are not even close to making. You invite criticism and “hate” from the members of that squad who worked hard to make it, only for you to make a mockery of it. How do you think the guys who was cut before the Belgium tour feels. After they worked all year at trials and training sessions, for their spot to be given to a kid who is not even as good as them, purely because articles like this one had been written about him? And he has told the coach he has been offered full ride division one scholarships? If i was one of those guys I would be pissed, and feel that any “hate” I showed towards NJ would be completely vindicated. As for accusing people of childish replies, I’m not seeing where you are coming from, you will have to enlighten me as to who has been acting childishly, other than Rex James accusing people of being fat?
I personally blame him for a overall poor world cup, rooney terrible showing for england, the recession, the coalition and the fact that my roof has a sprung a leak. How very dare he
and my terrible grammar on the previous post
look i speak to tim lew reguarly , TIM LEWIS DOES NOT KNOW OR HAS NEVER SPOKE TO OR MET NICK LEWIS !!!! HAHAHA IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE ME ASK HIM YOUR SELF !!! AND NICK LEWIS MAY ACHIEVE ALOT BUT SERIOUSLY NEEDS TO CONSIDER WHAT HE TELLS PEOPLE COS COACH LEWIS HAS NEVER WANTED HIM ! SOOOO BOY CALL ME A HATER OR CALL ME A REALIST
First, learn how to spell properly and improve your grammar. It helps make your point more credible. Second, move on and stop obsessing about this. Nick’s in college in the States. What are YOU doing? Eff all no doubt.
Rex….I heard that he was trying to decide between scholarships to Rutgers, USC and Providence…..which one did he choose?