Mercer County coaching legend Lewis-El dies
Mercer County lost one of the top girls’ basketball coaches in its history Wednesday when it was learned, through online reports, that Khaliq Lewis-El had passed away.
Lewis-El spent more than a decade at Trenton Catholic Academy, all the way back to when he started helping out former head coach Terry Clarke in the days when the school was still known as McCorristin High.
Lewis-El turned the school’s girls basketball program into a powerhouse.
He led the Mikes to nearly 250 wins during his tenure, which included eight seasons with 20 or more wins, six seasons in which the team won the Burlington County Scholastic League Liberty Division, five New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association Non-Public B crowns in a seven-year span and the 2011 Tournament of Champions, when TCA was ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Lewis-El also played a part in steering the Mikes to six Mercer County Tournament titles, including four in a row from 20102013, which is still a tournament record.
“Khaliq was fun,” said former Trenton Catholic boys basketball coach and co-athletic director Fred Falchi. “Losing him shows that life’s short. My prayers go out to his family.”
Falchi and Lewis-El coached the Mikes during some of their biggest moments in school history as each led TCA to a TofC title. Lewis-El also helped TCA get the first televised girls’ basketball game in
school history when it squared off with Trenton High in 2008.
“His girls’ program was great,” Falchi said. “Khaliq was very good to the girls and close to all of his players. He worked hard to help the girls get here. In turn, they worked hard for him.”
As part of his reputation as a successful coach, Lewis-El was well known for helping his players attain full scholarships, sending more than 90 percent of them to Division 1 universities, which was as much an honor for him as it was for the little New Jersey school on the border of Hamilton and Trenton, which produced big-name stars like Jasmyra Saunders, La’Keisha Sutton and Briyona Canty during that time.
“Khaliq was an awesome coach, great to work with, you couldn’t find a
nicer guy,” Trenton High athletic director Sharron Grady said.
Like Grady, Lewis-El worked in the Trenton school district. After his time at Trenton Catholic Academy, Lewis-El resurfaced for one year as the head coach of his old school’s archrival, Trenton High.
When Reggie Murray’s 32 years as Trenton’s girls head coach ended, LewisEl became its head coach for the 2017-18 season before Marlene Neal took the reigns.
Lewis-El coached the Tornadoes through a 1314 season when Trenton played its home games at Rivera Community Middle School, while the state was rebuilding the high school on Chambers Street.
Even when not on the sidelines, Lewis-El, who won 76% of the games he coached, worked with
basketball players of both genders.
“He was humbled, grateful and thankful for the opportunity to share his expertise while coaching the boys’ and girls’ student-athletes in Trenton,” Grady said. “Khaliq would help anyone and everyone. He will be missed. It’s so sad.”
Interestingly, the same year Lewis-El was coaching at Trenton High, Bob Fusik became TCA’s head coach and led the girls’ program through its next impressive run, earning three more MCT titles 2018-2020.
Even though that is the more recent memory of the school now known as Trenton Catholic Preparatory Academy, no one will ever forget the contributions Lewis-El provided to help the Mikes reach the pinnacle.