Acaden Lewis talks about relationship with UK’s Mark Pope

NORTH AUGUSTA, SC

Before everyone else did, Acaden Lewis got an inside look at a Kentucky basketball practice led by new UK coach Mark Pope.

Admittedly, this is purely coincidental.

Lewis, a 6-foot-1, 175-pound left-handed combo guard who is scheduled to play in college basketball in 2025, made an unofficial visit to the United Kingdom in mid-June, which coincided with the Wildcats’ summer training for the 2024-25 season.

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He was only able to attend 10 minutes of one of the UK’s first training sessions this summer due to a delayed flight, but Lewis has still taken many positives from his time in Lexington.

“It’s a big brand. (Kentucky) is one of the bigger brands in basketball, even without (John) Calipari,” Lewis told the Herald-Leader last week during a game with Team Durant at Peach Jam, the season-ending Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) event in South Carolina.

“It’s a great brand. You can see that people there really love Kentucky basketball.”

Lewis left that trip to Lexington with a scholarship offer from the United Kingdom. More recently, Lewis included Kentucky in a list of his top eight schools.

Lewis, who is ranked as a four-star prospect and the 47th national recruit in the class of 2025 by the 247Sports Composite, is still considering the following schools for college: Auburn, Duke, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Syracuse, Tennessee and two-time reigning national champion UConn.

“All eight are guard schools, and that’s where I want to go,” Lewis said. “I want to go to places where the guards excel (and) I see myself taking it to the next level. … And then the head coach relationships. All eight schools, I talk to the head coach as my primary recruiter.”

With this in mind, what does Lewis think of Pope, who has built a reputation as an energetic coach and recruiter?

“He’s just a great guy. He’s genuine, and he preaches that I can come and play right away,” Lewis said. “That’s something that everybody wants to hear when you get to the next level. But I really believed it, it seemed genuine.”

Among the talents who caught the attention of Pope and his coaching staff early in their time in the UK, Lewis stood out with his own brand of basketball.

A speedy combo guard with excellent defensive and passing instincts, Lewis is a standout player on both the Nike EYBL circuit and at the NBPA Top 100 Camp this summer.

“Just consistent consistency,” Lewis said of what’s been the biggest factor in his play this summer. “… I just try to be as consistent as I can, be a great teammate. Just make sure my energy is great every game. I think that’s going to lead to a good game.”

On the Nike circuit, Lewis emerged as one of the EYBL’s top scorers (16.7 points per game), offensive distributors (6.1 assists per game) and defensive players (1.5 steals per game) for Team Durant.

During the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Orlando in June, Lewis was a star performer averaging over 15 points and nearly 4 assists per game in one of the best environments youth basketball has to offer.

“I try to manipulate the game. I try to think the game more than the other team. That’s usually my goal,” Lewis said. “Not only am I playing against the other team that we’re playing against, but I’m playing against the other coach. … I’m really deceptive, I’ve got a great touch around the rim and I can shoot the ball.”

“If you manipulate (the game), things open up.”

Acaden Lewis targets fall deal during early signing period

A quartet of Kentucky coaches — Pope, along with assistants Alvin Brooks III, Cody Fueger and Jason Hart — watched Lewis play this summer on both the Nike circuit and at the NBPA Top 100 camp.

It was after one of those viewings — the third session of the Nike EYBL season in Indianapolis, which was Pope’s first recruiting stint as UK’s coach — that the Wildcats began recruiting Lewis.

“The coaching staff is great,” Lewis said of UK. “There’s a lot of NBA expertise in there.”

This is a not-so-thinly veiled reference to Hart, a nine-year NBA veteran who also previously served as head coach of the NBA G League Ignite team. Alongside Pope, Hart is helping lead UK’s recruitment of Lewis.

Hart was on the sidelines Friday night to watch Lewis play at Peach Jam.

Among top players nearing their senior year of high school, Lewis appears particularly organized when it comes to his recruiting schedule.

The guard at Sidwell Friends School (Washington DC) plans to sign a contract with a school during the early signing period, which runs from November 13 to 20.

“Just the relationship with the head coach, culture, they’re obviously all really good schools. They put guys in the (NBA), they’ve done their job,” Lewis said when asked what factors will help him decide on a college. “Just somewhere I think I fit in. … I’m going to make sure I (visit) all of them, see what it looks like and base my decision on that.”

Lewis plans to narrow his list of eight finalists down to three schools and commit from there. He is expected to return to the UK after the summer.