Impact Of A Scholarship: Derrick Lewis

Derrick Lewis, former Maryland men’s basketball alumnus, is one of the greatest players to ever come through the program. He’s the only player in program history to record two triple-doubles in a career and is still the all-time leader in blocked shots and the third all-time leading rebounder.

Lewis’s calling card was defense, yet he’s also Maryland’s 20th all-time leading scorer. He terrorized opposing ACC teams from 1984-88 while creating lasting memories at the university. He’s often reminded of the scholarship that the Terrapin Club donors and the late great head coach Lefty Driesell afforded him. It allowed him to form lasting relationships with people he says he never would've had access to without the game of basketball.

“You feel indebted, there's so many people to thank for the opportunity,” Lewis said. “I'm just grateful that I had that opportunity. …The people that made that possible, they'll never know or understand how much it means or how much it meant to me.”

Education was always important to the Lewis family. The basketball star was sent to Archbishop Carroll High School in D.C. by his parents so he could shift his focus to academics. Lewis made his parents' decision worthwhile by becoming a standout student in the classroom and one of the best basketball players in his class. He grew up battling with his younger brother Cedric Lewis, who he later played with at Maryland during the 1998-88 season.

The older Derrick was named first-team All-Metro, D.C. Metro Player of the Year and a McDonald's All-American in high school. He attracted the attention of many dominant college basketball programs at the time. Maryland was one of those programs, but Lewis was transparent about his thought process at the time.

“I had no plans of going to Maryland at all,” he said. “I made a top-10 list, which I still have in my house, and Maryland was not on that list of schools that I wanted to go to. The only reason I even did a visit with Maryland and had a home visit with Coach Driesell was because it was a local school.”

Driesell visited the Lewises at their house in Temple Hills, Md. Derrick had his first interaction with the future Hall of Fame coach.

“Coach went and immediately sat down in my father's chair,” Lewis said. “Nobody besides him ever sat in that chair. I was like this is not going to go well. He took off his shoes and sat in my father's chair like he was my dad. I looked at my dad and he didn't say anything.”

Driesell laid out the opportunity Lewis had at Maryland. He even boasted Maryland’s top-of-the-line engineering program, as he knew Lewis valued his education and was aware of his desired major. He still wasn't convinced, but conversations with current Terp greats at the time, Jeff Baxter, his former high school teammate, and Adrian Branch, swayed his decision to become a Terp. Maryland shortly after won the ACC title in 1984 and Lewis knew he would be joining a great basketball program.

Lewis moved to College Park during the summer before his freshman year in 1984 to get a head start on his engineering degree. He scrimmaged with the older student-athletes who were already on the team. Some of those people were Ben Coleman, Herman Veal, Mark Fothergill and Baxter.

Lewis remembers getting thrashed by the older, bigger and more experienced players. He was a mere 6-foot-7, 175 pounds at the time playing center, and debated quitting the sport he loved. But it all clicked when Baxter pulled him aside and had a conversation with him.

“‘Derek, you either have to play through it and stand up, or you can fold up like a folding chair,’” Lewis said while impersonating Baxter. He then pointed to a chain on the sideline. “‘Just like one of those chairs over there on the side. You’re a McDonald's All-American, McDonald's All-Americans don't quit. They don't just say I don't want to do it anymore.’ That conversation made a lot of sense.”

Lewis became a starter a few games into the season when it finally came around. The rest was history. He was a part of three NCAA Tournament teams, one of which made it to the Sweet 16 in 1985. He also boasted First-team All-ACC and AP Honorable Mention All-American honors in 1987. Lewis made Second-Team All-ACC later in 1988.

The former basketball star mentioned Maryland’s upset win over No. 1 North Carolina, 77-72, in overtime at the Dean Dome on Feb. 20, 1986, as one of his best memories. It was the first time the Tar Heels had lost in the Dean E. Smith Center, which had opened a month earlier. The Terps overcame a double-digit deficit on the road to secure one of the greatest upsets in college basketball history. North Carolina didn’t lose another game in the building for two years.

Lewis's other most memorable moment was Maryland's dominating road win against James Madison, 90-76, on Jan. 28, 1987. Lewis, a junior then, registered the first triple-double in Terps program history in front of a hostile crowd. He finished with 29 points, 23 rebounds and 12 blocks.

“When we got off the bus in the hotel there was a group of people talking trash,” Lewis said. “That was right after Len Bias passed and we were struggling. We had a lot of young guys, and I was one of the oldest and most experienced. They thought they were going to beat us. I was pissed all night, until the next day of the game. I wasn’t going to allow anybody on the other team to grab a rebound.”

Lewis says his career at Maryland gave him a platform that set him up for later success. It also gave him access to many people he considered mentors long after his Maryland career. His coach, Driesell, was an obvious mentor up until he passed away in February. Even the athletic director, Lew Perkins, and the president of the university, John Slaughter, were big supporters during his time as a Terp.

Other Maryland coaches he never played for such as Gary Williams and Brenda Frese he considers supporters and people he can go to anytime for advice. Others include Hall of Famer head coach John Wooden and former Govs. of Maryland, Raymond Shafer and Larry Hogan.

“These are people that I met only because I played basketball and received a scholarship there,” Lewis said. “If I came as a regular student there's no way I would have met these people.”

Lewis was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 1988 and went on to play for 17 years professionally, mainly in France. He made the Continental Basketball Association All-Defensive First Team in 1989. He was also named a 2x LNB Pro A All-Star and a 5x LNB Pro A blocks leader overseas. In 2002 he became a French Cup winner.

His claim to fame was becoming the first player in French league history to record a quadruple-double. On Feb. 24, 1990, he posted a stat line of 20 points, 11 rebounds, 12 steals and 10 blocks. It remains the only quadruple-double in league history.

Lewis retired from basketball in 2004 and started his basketball camp in 2005. The Derrick Lewis Basketball School teaches basketball skills and fundamentals to young players through camps and clinics.

The former basketball star also began a career in education after retiring from basketball. He’s been teaching for 16 years and is currently a physical education teacher at Bridges Public Charter School.

“I feel with the university, without having that scholarship and an opportunity, you don't get those same connections and same opportunities and you’re not meeting the same people,” Lewis said. “I think that's the part that people don't realize. It’s the intangibles that I learned from these people, and it allowed me to have a successful career after basketball.”