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April 7, 2015Trey Lewis has officially announced that he will transfer to Louisville and play for the Cardinals next season. Here’s a look at how the story developed on Monday and Tuesday.
Early Monday, reports surfaced surrounding Trey Lewis, the coveted Cleveland State graduate transfer who had allegedly narrowed his search down to Louisville and Ohio State. Reports added that Lewis would visit the Buckeyes at some point later this week.
Then, Monday night, Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com, tweeted that Lewis had committed to Rick Pitino and the Louisville Cardinals.
Cleveland State transfer Trey Lewis headed to Louisville, according to source.
— Doug Lesmerises (@DougLesmerises) April 6, 2015
Lesmerises’ report was quickly shot down by multiple reporters, stating that Lewis has not yet made his decision.
Trey Lewis has not made any transfer decisions yet, per his HS coach Sonny Johnson. Louisville source corroborates that.
— Jeff Greer (@jeffgreer_) April 6, 2015
Later Monday night, ESPN Basketball Insider, Jeff Goodman confirmed Lesmerises’ early report that Lewis was indeed heading to Louisville for his final year of eligibility.
Louisville has picked up fifth-year Cleveland State transfer Trey Lewis, source told ESPN. Averaged 16.3 points this past season.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 7, 2015
John Telich, a Cleveland sportscaster with local FOX 8, has reported that Lewis will make his announcement at Garfield Heights high school at 11 a.m. on Tuesday.
Former CSU star Trey Lewis 2 announce his future school choice tomorrow at Garfield Heights high at 11a.
— .@JohnTelich8 (@JohnTelich8) April 7, 2015
Lewis is a big-time get for Pitino and Louisville. Averaging 16.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.2 steals, while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from beyond the arc in the 2014-15 season, Lewis will provide plenty of scoring for the Cardinals new-look backcourt.
With the loss of sophomore guard Terry Rozier (declared for NBA draft), Lewis will most likely step right into Louisville’s starting lineup for the 2015-16 season.
UPDATE: Lewis confirmed the reports himself on Twitter shortly before his 11 o’clock announcement, and a picture of him in a Louisville hat surfaced shortly thereafter.
It's official! Headed south to be an angry bird #CardNation stand up!
— Trey Lewis (@Treylew3) April 7, 2015
Want to thank Cleveland State for an amazing 3 years. Truly love that program and the people. I play for red but I will forever bleed green!
— Trey Lewis (@Treylew3) April 7, 2015
Trey Lewis wearing the Louisville hat pic.twitter.com/9RWpSIN8QT
— David Cassilo (@dcassilo) April 7, 2015
David Castillo of the Northeast Ohio Media Group wrote a story on the transfer featuring some quotes from Lewis’ announcement. Lewis spoke to Terry Rozier before making his decision, and it sounds as though Rozier helped sway him.
“I’ll be playing for a legendary coach in Rick Pitino and in front of the greatest fans in the nation,” Lewis said.
The addition of Lewis comes just about a week after Shaker Heights graduate Terry Rozier announced he would be leaving Louisville to enter the NBA draft.
Before making the decision, Lewis spoke to Rozier about what it’s like to play for Louisville.
“He was able to tell me about how it is to play under Rick Pitino,” Lewis said. “He told me he’s going to push you and expect you every day to be great. That’s the type of coach I would want to play for.”
Castillo’s story also featured video of Lewis discussing his transfer: