A veteran coach with an outstanding basketball background, Tom Lewis joins the Cal State LA women’s basketball program as an assistant coach. Lewis has impressive experience at a variety of levels of both men’s and women’s basketball.
Lewis reunites with head coach Cheryl Miller, who he coached with in 2000 for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. The Mercury were 20-12 that season and Lewis was involved in all the on-court coaching.
He was also the head coach of the Chicago Blaze of the NWBL in 2002 and guided the team to a 16-4 record and a division championship before becoming an assistant coach for Vivian Stringer with Rutgers University in 2002-03. The team went 22-8 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Most recently, Lewis was the head coach and assistant athletic director at Saddleback Valley Christian High School, where he led the team to a 131-51 record in six years, including a 43-1 league record. He team was a CIF runner-up in 3013-14 and reached the CIF playoffs each year he was there. He was named the San Joaquin League Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2015.
He was an assistant coach at New Mexico State University in 2010-2011 and was also an assistant coach for Cal State LA’s men’s basketball program in 2009-10, where he had recruiting and player development responsibilities.
Lewis was also the head coach at JSerra Catholic High School from 2003-08 and had a 78-42 record over four years. His team reached the CIF semifinals in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and reached the quarterfinals in 2007-08. He started the program from the ground up at a brand new school.
Before coaching with Miller at the Phoenix Mercury, Lewis was at Long Beach State from 1996-2000, where he was an assistant coach for Wayne Morgan, the Director of Recruiting and Player Development and a Physical Education Instructor. The 49ers went 24-6 in 1999-2000 and won a Big West Conference championship.
Lewis was also an assistant coach at Mater Dei High School from 1992-95 and was part of a program that won South Coach League and CIF championships each year he was there. He was also an assistant coach at St. John Bosco.
He has also done individual training for current Los Angeles Lakers Tyson Chandler and Kyle Kuzma.
Lewis was also an outstanding high school and collegiate player. He was the California Player of the Year at Mater Dei after averaging 35 points a game and was inducted into the Orange County Hall of Fame. After averaging 17.5 points per game as a freshman at USC, Lewis spent three seasons at Pepperdine, where he earned All-West Coast Conference honors twice.
He spent a year playing professionally in Portugal before embarking on his successful coaching career.
Lewis graduated from Pepperdine with a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication.
