March 27, 2004
ST. LOUIS (AP) – When Paul Hewitt took over as coach at Georgia Tech in April 2000, Marvin Lewis’ parents wanted a word with him.
Recruited by Bobby Cremins, Lewis had settled on Georgia Tech as much for its academic reputation as its basketball program. He was still pretty sure he wanted to go there when Cremins resigned, and a couple of phone conversations with Hewitt settled it.
But Lewis’ parents still wanted to meet Hewitt. So while Lewis was at an AAU game his senior year, Nathan and Lachee Lewis met Hewitt in a diner in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“You’ve just got to tell them who you are and what you believe in,” Hewitt said. “If you are going to turn your son over to a coach for the next four years, you at least want to meet him and talk to him to see what the plan is going to be.”
The Lewises obviously liked what they heard, giving their blessing for their son to go to Georgia Tech.
Four years later, the decision has worked out well for both Lewis and the Yellow Jackets. Lewis, a management major, has made the dean’s list all but one semester and already has a job offer for when he graduates this spring.
He’s also helped revive Georgia Tech’s basketball program, with the Yellow Jackets in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1990.
Georgia Tech plays Kansas Sunday in St. Louis with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
Lewis, the Yellow Jackets’ captain, scored 23 points Friday night after B.J. Elder got hurt to lead Georgia Tech to a victory over Nevada.
“He obviously represents everything that the NCAA wants to project,” Hewitt said.
