CARDINALS

Trey Lewis announces U of L transfer plans

Jeff Greer and Steve Jones
The Courier-Journal
Cleveland State guard Trey Lewis appears to be headed to Louisville.

The University of Louisville basketball team has landed one of its top offseason priorities.

Ex-Cleveland State guard Trey Lewis announced Tuesday that he will transfer to U of L to play his final season of college basketball. Expected to graduate this spring, Lewis is eligible to play right away.

The transfer comes at a time when Louisville, fresh off a surprise run to the Elite 8, needs to add both maturity and scoring to its roster.

U of L coach Rick Pitino "doesn't have a senior on his team, and he needs leadership and he wants me to come in and lead his team," Lewis said in a phone interview. "That's what I want to do.

Lewis, a 6-foot-2 guard from the Cleveland area, broke Cleveland State's single-season record for 3-pointers, with 96, and led his team in scoring at 16.7 points a game. Lewis said he expects to play point guard at U of L and provide a scoring punch.

"We are really excited to have Trey in our program," Pitino said in a statement announcing Lewis's signing of a financial-aid agreement.

"He is a talented young man with an incredible attitude, and his leadership qualities fit perfectly for what we need. He's a point guard who scores, does a good job of getting in the lane and sets his teammates up well. Since we've played the last four years with two point guards, it's perfect to continue on that path with our running and pressing style."

Lewis chose the Cardinals over Ohio State primarily for his transfer. He said he also considered Xavier, Connecticut, Memphis, Arizona and Georgetown.

Lewis caught Pitino's eye back in November, when he scored 24 of Cleveland State's 33 points in a 12-point loss at the KFC Yum! Center.

"When Cleveland State played Louisville, I got a chance to show I belonged on this level," Lewis said. "I just want for senior year to play against the best competition, and my dream has always been to go to a Final Four, take a team to a Final Four. And when this situation opened up the way it did, I've got to thank God because he opened this door for me."

At the time, Pitino raved about the former Penn State signee who played two years at Cleveland State after sitting out his sophomore season because of transfer rules.

"He's got size, he gets in the lane, he makes his free throws," Pitino said at the time. "He was brilliant. We knew he would be."

Lewis said he recalls an "electric" atmosphere at the KFC Yum! Center that night and knew he would play well.

"After the game, hearing Coach Pitino's comments, I knew I'd earned his respect, earned the city of Louisville's respect as well," Lewis said.

On Sunday, Pitino reiterated his hope of landing one or two grad transfers to fill out his team's 2015-16 roster. The Cardinals were looking for experience -- Mangok Mathiang is the only non-sophomore or freshman returning -- and a player who can shoot.

After a frustrating season that saw his team shoot 30.7 percent from 3-point range, Pitino said multiple times that he was determined to avoid that same problem in the future.

"From this point on, for as long as I live, if someone cannot shoot the basketball, I'm taking them off any letter-writing list," Pitino said Sunday.

Lewis is eager to help shore up the Cards from the perimeter.

"I think they struggled a lot from shooting last year, from the 3-point line last year," he said. "So I know that was a great need coming in. I shoot the ball fairly well. I know he wants me to score. He wants me to be who I am. He doesn't want me to change up who I am. He wants me to take on a greater role, and that is to lead a team.

"So it's not just about scoring. It's about being an all-around point guard, knowing the time and situation and doing whatever the game asks me to do. But I know he wants me to be who I am, and that's who I expect to be."

He had a smile on his face and drew a laugh from reporters, but he was serious, and adding Lewis to the mix should help ease Pitino's concerns about his team's shooting abilities next fall.

The Cards still have one more scholarship to fill, and they are exploring several options. Junior-college guard Mychal Mulder visited U of L's campus last week. Pitino and his staff are also searching for other fifth-year transfer possibilities, including ex-Drexel guard Damion Lee. Class of 2016 wing Maverick Rowan, a top target for Louisville, is trying to figure out if he can reclassify as a high school senior and join a college team this summer, though there appear to be obstacles to him doing that.