Riverside boys coach resigns.
With one son playing at Cardinal Stritch and another set to play at Iowa State, Tyrone “Rock” Lewis has decided to resign as the boys basketball coach at Milwaukee Riverside.
Lewis spent nine seasons on the job, leading the Tigers to three City Conference titles and one sectional championship. He was the Journal Sentinel’s area coach of the year in 2011.
“I just want to take a year off and get a chance to see both of my sons play college ball, get a chance to check them out and help them as much as I can in the off-season,” Lewis said.
His departure opens the head coaching position at one of the city’s most requested high schools. Riverside is also expected to return one of the area’s top players, rising senior guard Carlos Curtis.
The school’s basketball program rose in stature during Lewis’ tenure. The school’s conference title in 2010-’11 was its first since 1947. That year the team won a sectional title but didn’t advance to state. That was the year of Super Tuesday games, and Riverside lost to Madison Memorial in a Division 1 quarterfinal at UW Whitewater.
Lewis also led Riverside to conference titles last season and this year. He finished with a 147-68 (.684) record overall and an 81-30 (.730) mark in the City. Six times he led Riverside to top-three finishes in the conference.
The team this past season, which was led by Lewis’ son, Terrence, was 18-7 and 11-1.
Terrence Lewis will play at Iowa State. Tyrone Lewis will be a junior at NAIA Cardinal Stritch.
Tyrone Lewis, 48, doesn’t rule out a return to coaching at some point.
“I just want to get that experience of one year watching them play,” he said. “You never know, the next year if there is a good opening for me, I might try to get back in.”