Tom Lewis Finally Decides: It’s USC

USC, surprise co-champion of the Pacific-10 basketball conference this past season, is the surprise winner of the Tom Lewis Derby.

The Mater Dei High School star has signed a national letter of intent to play for the Trojans.

Lewis, the Southern Section 5-A Player of the Year who averaged 32 points and 11.7 rebounds while leading the Monarchs to the 5-A championship, chose USC over Nevada Las Vegas, Syracuse, and Arizona State, citing his desire to remain in Southern California. Lewis is considered the top prep player on the West Coast.

UCLA and UC Irvine also were candidates. But Lewis chose the Pac-10 over the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., thereby eliminating UCI, then decided he would be happier at USC, thereby eliminating the Bruins.

“I could fit in at USC right away, and my chances of starting there as a freshman are better than they are elsewhere,” said Lewis, a 6-7 forward/guard. “I think people expected me to go to a big, established program such as Syracuse or UNLV, which are always in the Top 20, but I’ll probably be happier at USC.”

The factors involved in Lewis’ decision seem predominantly geographical. He decided last Monday that he would stay on the West Coast, thereby eliminating Syracuse from the running. Later in the week, he decided to stay in Southern California, which eliminated UNLV and Arizona State but brought UC Irvine into the picture.

Lewis came to his final decision Friday night, and signed the letter of intent Saturday.

“I don’t know if I’d be as happy back East,” said Lewis, who grew up in Boston. “It would be like starting over again. I’d have to make new friends and prove myself. The happiest days of my life have been on the West Coast.”

Most of those days have been spent with Pat Barrett, a former Mater Dei assistant who has been Lewis’ roommate for the past three years and became his legal guardian when Lewis’ mother, Judy Yanover, moved to Phoenix last year. Barrett also has been a coach and a surrogate father to the basketball star.

It had been speculated that Barrett would be named an assistant coach at the school Lewis chose, but Morrison said emphatically that Barrett would not be part of a package deal or a volunteer coach.

“If he was a volunteer coach, he’d be on my staff,” Morrison said Sunday night from Philadelphia, where he is recruiting two high-school players. “If he wants to hang around practice, that’s his business--I don’t have any difficulty with that.

“He’s really tight with the kid, and he’s a basketball fan. He’s lived and died Mater Dei basketball, and I hope he lives and dies USC basketball. But he will not be on my staff.”

Lewis had been barraged with phone calls and letters from college recruiters since his sophomore year, but USC didn’t intensify its efforts to land Lewis until this year. Lewis appreciated Morrison’s low-key approach.

“The reason I liked Stan was because he didn’t come after me that hard,” he said. “He’d call once every few weeks and drop a letter now and then. He didn’t put a lot of pressure on me. Most schools called me every other day and some called every day.

“Through the whole process, it looked doubtful that USC was in the picture, but Stan never gave up at any time. That showed me how much of a winner he is.”

UCLA appeared to be the leading contender for Lewis’ services last year, while UNLV and Syracuse emerged as the favorites at the end of this season. Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian even told the Associated Press Friday that Lewis would sign with the Rebels unless “something bizarre happens.”

“I don’t know why he said that,” Lewis said. “I never verbally committed to UNLV. It must have been his own opinion.”

As for his leaning toward UCLA, Lewis said, “That was last year. I never really had a favorite. It changed day to day.”