Former IU player, Butler coach Michael Lewis heading to Ball State

MUNCIE — A well-known athlete and southwestern Indiana native will soon be making his way to Muncie.

Ball State Athletics announced Fridaythat Michael Lewis will be the head men's basketball coach for the Cardinals. He is originally from Jasper.

Lewis is currently an assistant coach at UCLA. He has spent a total of 18 seasons as an assistant coach, including five years at Butler University from 2011-2016.

“Basketball in our state is personified in Michael Lewis,” director of athletics Beth Goetz said in a news release. “His outlook on the game, relationship building, recruiting network, pedigree and proactive approach to engagement with our stakeholders resides at a high level. Additionally, his program values and standards on the court, in the classroom and the community will create a road map for the Cardinals to move onward, compete for Mid-American Conference titles and position our institution for a return to the NCAA Tournament."

Lewis played at IU under head coach Bob Knight from 1996-2000 and served as a graduate assistant for Knight for two seasons at Texas Tech before spending the 2004-05 season as an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin.

As a senior at Indiana (1999-00), Lewis served as team captain and secured third-team All-Big Ten honors. He was the Most Valuable Player of the 1999 Hoosier Classic and concluded his collegiate career as Indiana’s all-time leader in career assists (545). He now ranks second in career assists at his alma mater, as Yogi Ferrell had 633 assists from 2012-15. Lewis and Keith Smart are Indiana’s only two players to have logged a program-record 15 single-game assists. In addition, he led Indiana in assists per game as a sophomore (1998), junior (1999) and senior (2000).

Lewis has a wife named Nichole and two daughters — Avery and Emma.

Lewis will begin his new job once the Bruins season ends.