EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – The start that former Chapin High School basketball star KJ Lewis has gotten off to at Arizona shouldn’t come as any surprise to anyone in the Sun City.
A top-100 recruit in the Class of 2023 for most of his high school career, Lewis played three years at Chapin, before playing his senior season at Duncanville. Now, Lewis is a true freshman for No. 12 Arizona, his dream school, a program he committed to in the spring of 2022 live on KTSM.
The 6’4 guard has gotten off to a strong start to his college career in the first two games of the season for the Wildcats, stuffing the stat sheet. He had eight points, five steals, four assists and four rebounds in a season-opening win over Morgan State last Monday, but the best was yet to come for Lewis.
On Friday in Arizona’s massive 78-73 win over No. 2 Duke at the raucous Cameron Indoor Stadium, Lewis looked wise beyond his years. He scored six points on 3-4 shooting, grabbed three rebounds and dished out a pair of assists in the exhilarating win.
Lewis was also in the game down the stretch for the Wildcats for his defensive capabilities and on the last play of the game, he put the exclamation point on Arizona’s win with an emphatic two-handed slam off of a Wildcats steal.
“I think we’ve got a bunch of winners. I’m really proud of how we handled the situational basketball late. Our guys did a great job of playing situational basketball down the stretch,” Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd said.
Lewis’ early-season role is perfect for him as a true freshman. He comes off the bench for the Wildcats and is able to give them an immediate spark, be it offensively or defensively. Through two games, the former Chapin star is averaging 7.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.5 steals and shooting 75% from the floor in 16 minutes per contest.
There’s still a long way to go, but Lewis is off to a great start and so is Arizona. The Wildcats will be back on action on Monday night at home vs. Southern.
