Lewis feels like he’s home at King
Anyone who loves their alma mater and donned the school colors in the field of play understands where Royce Buckner and Harlan Coats are coming from.
They enjoy representing their school.
“I feel good just because I’m wearing a King jersey,” said Coats, a senior. “Not many players can say that they did that.”
Basketball continues to hold a special place in the heart of the city and at Milwaukee King it can be argued that the reputation of its boys basketball program casts as big a net statewide as does its academic success. Even though it hasn’t won a state title since 2004, its five championships are still tied for third best in WIAA history, and its 15 state tournament appearances are the most for a City Conference team.
So yes, there is cachet to putting on that jersey. Even during a year like this.
King isn’t in the conversation when it comes to the conference race and with a 1-5 mark has work to do to avoid its first losing season in who knows how long. The new-look Generals, however, plan to surprise some people over the next couple of months.
“We’re going to get better,” Buckner said. “It’s just a new coach, a new style of play, new everything for us. So once everything is well done, everything is going to get better, I promise you. Right now it’s a blessing to go out there and play with the King jersey.”
Doug Lewis knows the feeling. The Generals’ first-year coach was a senior standout when the school won its first state championship in 1984. He went on to play at Missouri State and eventually had a decade-long career as a college head coach.
He hasn’t coached at the high school level since 1993 when he was an assistant at Washington the year the Purgolders won their last title. That team, for those who remember, was loaded and considered a team to beat from Day 1.
The 2016-’17 King Generals are on the other end of the spectrum. After Michigan recruit Jordan Poole and Division I prospect Virshon Cotton opted for prep school, King didn’t have any player of note returning this season.
What was left? A lot of room for growth.
“The most enjoyable part about teaching at the high school level is being able to see your kids grow,” Lewis said. “And our kids have gotten better from November until now. I’m seeing the growth. … That makes you feel like you’re doing your job.”
It’s a challenge Lewis is enjoying tackling. To watch him in practice is to see him work himself into a lather — the towel to wipe the sweat from his bald head is never too far away — as he demonstrates how to work around a screen or pass the ball from the high post
The money isn’t as good as it was at the college level, but the game is the same. And it can be argued that Lewis can make a greater impact with high school kids than he did at Central State or Northern Michigan or as an assistant at UW-Milwaukee last season. Listening to him quote his former coach James Gordon, a man whom he last played for in 1984, in practice or during an interview is proof of that.
“The same thing he said back then is true to this day. The players get faster and stronger, but the game doesn’t change,” Lewis said. “It’s about knowing how to play and playing the right way. A lot of things Coach Gordon told us when we were on that state championship team pretty much are usable today and I pretty much kept that at heart my whole career.”
Part of the challenge this year is weathering the storm. While Vincent, Riverside, Washington and Hamilton have more experience and more talent, King is starting fresh. Lewis brought five freshmen up to the varsity after the team’s second game.
Today eight of the team’s 13-man rotation are underclassmen. Freshmen guards Dion Tally and Leontae Scott are starters, and the other freshmen all are getting playing time. Only three members of the rotation are seniors, though Coats (13 points per game) and Buckner (11.4 ppg) lead the team in scoring.
Lewis, who is pursuing his master’s degree in leadership from UW-Milwaukee, initially said he would evaluate his status as a high school coach year to year, but he sounds like a man who is feeling at home again.
“Our freshmen have me excited that we can get King back to where it was,” he said. “I’m all in. I’m excited about this year. I’m excited about next year. You never know. I might retire here.”