Mizzou basketball signee Curt Lewis wins JuCo player of the year. What does he bring to the Tigers?
Missouri basketball will be adding another award winner for the 2023-24 campaign. Tiger signee Curt Lewis was named the National Junior College Athletic Association’s player of the year on Thursday.
Lewis will be the second player to have earned the honor on MU’s roster for next season, joining Sean East, who won in 2021-22. East also attended John A. Logan Community College in Illinois, where Lewis won an NJCAA national championship this past season.
The hard work and dedication he has for the game does not go unnoticed,” Logan head coach Tyler Smithpeters said in a release from the NJCAA. “He never faulted when things got hard, he persevered and kept working toward our team goals. He is a winner on and off the court. We at Logan are thrilled for Curt and his family and are very excited for his future."
What he brings to the Tigers
Lewis’ connection to Missouri is fairly easy to spot. Tiger assistant Kyle Smithpeters was previously the head coach at Logan, and Tyler Smithpeters is his brother.
The guard committed to MU in January. After winning the player of the year award, he drew high praise from the Logan program, including athletic director Greg Starrick
"Curt Lewis has been a team leader since he stepped on campus,” Starrick said in the release. “He had clutch performances throughout the season when his team needed him most. But what I admired most about (Curt) was his willingness to always put the team first. Winning a Championship was always more important to him than individual honors."
Even with that being said, Lewis will bring plenty of honors with him to Columbia. In addition to the player of the year award, he was named a junior college all-American for last season’s efforts.
He also was part of the NJCAA national championship all-tournament team.
“When he arrived on the JALC campus his impact began immediately,” Logan assistant coach Marcus Walker said of Lewis in the release. “The leadership skills he showed on and off the court daily separated him from his peers.”
Lewis, a guard, was listed at 6 foot 5 inches and 210 pounds last season for the Vols. He averaged 14.3 points per game during the 2022-23 campaign.
With D’Moi Hodge out of eligibility, Lewis could help fill the void from three-point range for Missouri. He hit 48.3% of his 145 attempts from beyond the arc last season at Logan, to go with a 51.8% total on field goals, and 77.1% from the free throw line.
He also chipped in on the board for the Vols, grabbing 6.1 rebounds per game. Lewis also chipped in with 3.8 assists per game.
He’ll join the Tigers with two seasons of eligibility, having spent two years at Eastern Kentucky prior to transferring to Logan. With three years of college basketball behind him already, he fits the mold of players MU head coach Dennis Gates brought in last season, most of whom had multiple years of college basketball experience.
The veteran presence on MU’s 2022-23 roster proved useful in close games throughout the year, especially late in the season. Based on his performance in the NJCAA national championship game, Lewis will also bring the ability to play his best when it matters most.
In that game, a 73-70 win over Northwest Florida State College, Lewis had 18 points, which followed a season-high 27-point effort in the semifinals against Tallahassee Community College. He also chipped in seven rebounds, two steals and a block in the title game.
Lewis will join a Missouri roster that has seen a flurry of transfer portal activity of late. Ronnie DeGray III and Mohamed Diarra have both already announced their departures, while John Tonje from Colorado State committed to MU.
The portal closes May 11.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri basketball signee Curt Lewis wins JuCo player of the year
