By CHARLIE PARENT
Acaden Lewis, a four-star point guard in the class of 2025, has cut his list to Kentucky, UConn, North Carolina, Duke, Tennessee, Michigan, Auburn and Syracuse, he announced Wednesday.
The 6-foot-3 Sidwell Friends (DC.) and Team Durant AAU product exploded on the Nike EYBL circuit this spring, earning offers from every blue-blood school during the month of May. He took unofficial visits to UConn, North Carolina and Kentucky in the subsequent weeks.
“You can’t expect what happened to be to be honest,” he told ZAGSBLOG. “It’s definitely a blessing.”
He broke down his eight options to ZAGSBLOG:
UConn: “Coach [Dan] Hurley is a great guy. He’s super straightforward, which I like, and I need a coach like that to tell me when to tell me when I mess up or what to improve on; he has a good balance of that, and the guys really love him. It’s different there, going on the unofficial; the practices were the best I’ve seen: [they have] a great pace and the guys were all locked in, so that was great to see. And, obviously, they win, and you want to be in a winning program with winning culture and one that values their guards.”
Kentucky: “It was good, that [the unofficial] was my first time really meeting [Mark] Pope in person, and he spoke highly of me and really said I could play in his system. They have a lot of experience in that staff: Coach Pope went to the NBA, and Coach [Jason] Hart went to Syracuse and then played in the league for 10 years, so he’s an NBA vet. Kentucky is one of the biggest brands in basketball as well.”
North Carolina: “It was great. It’s a college town and one of the most respected programs. They’re known for their guards and getting them to the league as well, which is one of the main things I’m focusing on. Hubert [Davis] was a super cool, genuine guy, and a lot of the staff is super genuine, and the players seem to really like it there. Their system, they play really fast, which I think I could excel in. He [Davis] just said he could see me playing there, and I agree. He needs guards because he has some high-profile guards now that’ll be gone by the time I would get there, so he could see me stepping into play Day 1.”
Duke: “That was really cool because that was the last one of the Blue Bloods. On top of that, they have somewhat of the DMV pipeline with guys like Trevor Keels, Darren Harris and Pat Ngongba. They’ve had a pipeline and successful guys from this area, so it’s great to see that they think I could be the next big thing from this area. I have a great relationship with coach [Jon] Scheyer and his staff; they just seem fired up about me and think I can come in and play big minutes right away.”
Tennessee: “Coach [Rick] Barnes is a really cool guy, and he has a lot of love for his guards and all of his players. Tennessee has been really great for the past couple of years, and they’ve also put guys in the NBA, which is where I want to be. It’s cool to see a program do what you want to do for other guys. They’re known as a guard school; every year, one of their best players is their guard. They had Dalton Knecht and Zachai Ziegler, who was one of my favorite players when he was coming out of high school.”
Syracuse: “Coach [Red] Autry got in a little early before my stock really started to rise and I always appreciate those schools who have seen me before others. They’ve expressed that they’re big fans of my game and that I could fit into my system. They love their DMV guys as well; Syracuse is known for a lot of their guards from this area, [like] Judah Mintz [who] just went to the draft.”
Auburn: “They were just really genuine. That’s what I really look for: coaches being genuine, having a good feel and thinking I could play for them. Coach [Bruce] Pearl gave me that. They’re known as a guard school and that’s the main thing I always hear about. The staff is great, the basketball program too, and I could really see myself there.”
Michigan: “I have family who lives there. My dad is from there, so I have Michigan ties and have been there a good amount of times. It’s a different place. Michigan has a big brand; they’ve had stuff like the Fab 5, so they’ve been known to be a basketball school. I have faith that coach [Dusty] May will turn it around, especially because he did a good job at FAU. I think their system is great; they play really great and love guards, too.”
In terms of a timetable, Lewis aims to commit sometime in the fall, but plans to take official visits to all eight schools before announcing his decision.
Lewis is maturing into a lead guard for the next level, getting his teammates involved, while understanding when to attack and score the ball at a high rate.
“What you’re seeing is a guy who’s a playmaker, but he’s starting to mature into a game manager as well,” Sidwell Friends and Team Durant head coach Eric Singletary said. “He’s somebody you can really trust to run your team. He has a lot of stuff you can’t teach, but his progress over one year with the stuff we are working with him on has been incredible.”
With a jam packed EYBL schedule, Lewis prefers to take a positive outlook on the grind.
“It’s a blessing [to play here],” he said. “A lot of kids want to be where I am, so I’m very happy I’m here and just want to show out, get some wins and uplift my guys, make them look better as well.”
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