The Basketball Interview … Hunter Lewis (2018)
West Franklin 2018 guard Hunter Lewis may be from a small town, but don’t let that fool you. He has a well-rounded offensive game, brings good size and athleticism to the court and plays with a chip on his shoulder.
A 6’4, 190-pound guard, Lewis can shoot from behind the 3-point arc, has a nice floater game and is at his best getting to the basket and finishing in traffic.
Lewis spent the offseason playing for Kansas Triple Threat, a team based out of Hartford that featured several small school players from the area.
Lewis has helped lead West Franklin to an 8-9 record this season. The eight wins are more than either of the previous two seasons.
Prep Hoops — How would you describe your game to people who haven’t seen you play?
Lewis — Such a hard question but it was only hard because I’m from a small town and I know a lot of people haven’t seen me play, so I tried thinking really hard and being accurate with this one. I’m a spot up shooter from behind the arch, I love my fifteen footers and more than anything getting to the rim and finishing on people is my go to and specialty.
Prep Hoops — Who did you play summer ball with? Tell us about your summer experience and how you grew as a player.
Lewis — This past summer I played for Kansas Triple Threat, it’s small organization in Hartford, Kan. A bunch of small town kids get together and come to the gym and play their game and that’s something I like about it we don’t need any of the big city kids to help us out. Because when it comes to reality all the big city kids get recognized and the small town kids get pushed to the side which sucks but that doesn’t stop us and i believe never will.
Prep Hoops — Tell about your high school team, a little about the season so far and how you are playing. Include stats or whatever if you have them.
Lewis — We continue to battle night in and night out. I wouldn’t count us out quite yet. We already have more wins this season then we had the past two seasons which is always good! If there is one thing I love about this team it is definitely the fact I get to take these guys and become their leader. A thing I don’t like about this team and it’s something we can fix for sure and that is we like playing at the other teams level so if we are playing a bad team we like to play down to their level but when we play the good teams we are right there with them and that’s always good but id like to have a few more blow out wins, those are always fun! But I know for a fact our guys are going to give their maximum effort on the court and I can’t thank them enough for that!
Prep Hoops — Who has been the biggest influence on your basketball career and tell us why?
Lewis — I’ve been blessed to have several people come along and influence me and my basketball career. I want to start off with my mom — I give her a lot of credit she has done so much for me and has taught me so much about that game. After sitting down and thinking about this question even more I definitely have to give some credit to Darnell Johnson.
Growing up, Darnell was my coach from the start of putting a basketball in my hand until roughly the start of middle school but to this day I can always go to him for help!
Another individual that popped into my head would be our head coach, Coach Tempel. That man will do anything for us and he’s done so much for me that I don’t even know where to start with him, from summer workouts everyday just one-on-one time to playing some of the biggest games during season he’s there by my side.
Last but not least Peter Danyliv, he is my trainer but not only that he’s a brother. I’ve trained with Peter ever since his time here in Kansas and now look where we are now Peter has his own business (90/10 Create Future) which is the best in the business and Peter and I will die on the hardwood together! Many many hours spent together working on just the littlest things to improve my game! Thank you all once again and also to the ones who were not recognized.
Prep Hoops — Who do you enjoy watching play basketball (professional, college, whoever) and why?
Have you been able to take anything they do well and implement it in your own game?
Lewis — LeBron James is by far the best player and in my opinion the great of all time and don’t get me wrong I love watching greatness but I wouldn’t say he’s my favorite player to just sit down and watch and study. My favorite player(s) to watch and resemble my game like theirs would have to be Dwayne Wade and Kyle Korver. I like to drive and get to the rim like D-Wade with a nice fade away jumper but nothing beats my spot up shot on the arch like Kyle Korver. I just wish I was as good as those two guys.
Prep Hoops — Finally have you drawn any interest from college programs? If so tell us a little about that.
Lewis — I have drawn a little interest from colleges but nothing that I had in vision or that I was hoping for. I have a few NAIA schools that have reached out to me and a few JUCO’s here in the Midwest that have reached out to me but nothing that I was looking for and the great thing is, we still have a long haul ahead of us where I can prove I deserve better and to not sleep on me like people have my whole life so stay tuned!