2003 Top 50 List: No
Dan Collins List: No
Mike Lewis (not to be confused with UNC’s Bob Lewis, who played at the same time) was an outstanding big man who played at the tail end of the Vic Bubas era at Duke. He had a monster year in 1968, averaging 22 points and 14 rebounds. He was unanimous first team All-ACC, received a lot of support for ACC Player of the Year (won by Larry Miller), and made third team All-American. He had 24 double-doubles (Tim Duncan holds the ACC record in that category with 29 in 1997).
Lewis was a similar player to Randy Denton, who succeeded him as Duke’s big man in residence. I rate Lewis a bit higher because he achieved a level as a senior that was slightly better than Denton’s best. Lewis’s 14.4 rebounds per game average in 1968 has been exceeded only three times since then: Tom Owens in 1970 (14.9), Len Elmore in 1974 (14.7), and Tim Duncan in 1997 (14.7).
Lewis played a major role in the two most famous “slowdown” games in the ACC Tournament. In the 1966 semifinal, UNC held the ball and didn’t shoot unless they got a layup. It almost worked, as the Tar Heels built a 17-12 lead in the second half, but Duke managed to claw back. Lewis sank a late free throw to secure a 21-20 win for the Blue Devils, who went on to win the ACC championship and advance to the Final Four for the third time in four seasons. In 1968, NC State tried it, and this time Duke was not so fortunate as the Wolfpack pulled out a 12-10 win to advance to the final against UNC. Lewis was Duke’s high scorer with four points.
If these slowdown games sound like a desperation tactic, that’s because they were. Duke was the dominant program in the ACC in the 1960s, and their program at the time was known for size and rebounding, kind of like Roy Williams’ North Carolina teams. Lewis was at the center of that, but Duke had other quality big men as well. Dean Smith in 1966 and Norm Sloan in 1968 were honest in saying that they didn’t think they could deal with Duke’s size in a normal game, hence the spread out/slow down tactic. Interestingly, Duke coach Vic Bubas didn’t complain or criticize their tactics at all. He said in effect, it’s not against the rules, so I don’t have a problem with it. For some reason, it took the NCAA 18 more years to figure out that this was gimmickry, not basketball, and institute a shot clock.
Lewis was also involved in a fascinating home-and-home series with John Wooden and UCLA. In December 1965, the Bruins came to North Carolina and played the Blue Devils on back-to-back days; in December 1966, Duke went out to California and returned the favor. Wouldn’t it be cool if a few of the top teams still did that? Both the 1965 games were won by Duke; both the 1966 games were won by UCLA. The difference? Lew Alcindor. 1966 was Alcindor’s first year on varsity, and not coincidentally, the first year of the Bruins’ 10 year run of dominance. Poor Mike Lewis, standing at 6’7”, didn’t stand a chance, and nobody else that played Alcindor did either. That 1966-67 UCLA team is arguably the most dominant team in the history of college basketball, and Alcindor is arguably the greatest player in the history of college basketball.