He is the architect of the dominant Illinois high school basketball program of the 1980s, but when fans discuss the Frank Lloyd Wrights of the coaching profession, don`t expect to hear much about Bennie Lewis of East St. Louis Lincoln.
Maybe it`s because he sits quietly during games instead of gyrating noisily along the sidelines. Maybe it`s because the imposing array of talent that has flowed through his program has led critics to accuse him of doing little more than rolling out the ball. Maybe it`s because the focus of attention in Illinois high school basketball has shifted to the northern half of the state over the last two decades.
Whatever the reason, Bennie Lewis` reputation has yet to catch up to his record.
That record includes an unprecedented three Class AA state titles. Only Ron Felling of Class A Lawrenceville, with four, has won more state crowns. Last season, the Tigers became the first school to repeat as Class AA champion since the tournament split into two classes in 1972.
Until 1980, Lincoln had never reached the Sweet 16. Since then, the Tigers have made it six times, and they have a good shot at No. 7 in March. Lewis` career record in 18 seasons is 366-105, including 21-4 this year.
He has succeeded by surrounding his stars with role players and getting them to play together. It`s a simple enough formula, but not every coach can make it work.
The 48-year-old Lewis has done it as much because of what he does off the court as on it. He has established a team concept by first fostering a family atmosphere, no small achievement at a school situated near two housing projects, one where many students come from single-parent homes.
If every player but one has new basketball shoes, Lewis makes sure they all do, even if it means dipping into his own pocket. If a player needs lunch money, Lewis or an assistant coach takes care of it. If a player`s family has its phone shut off because a bill has gone unpaid, Lewis will pay it or get help from members of the team`s booster club.
”I needed some socks for a game, and he supplied the socks,” said senior guard Vincent Jackson, who along with junior forward Cuonzo Martin forms the heart of this year`s team. ”I needed $2 for an ACT book, and he gave me the money. If I needed anything else, he would help me. He`ll take time out to open the gym during the summer. He wants all of us to do the best we can in life.”
Lewis sees such acts as nothing extraordinary. He is simply treating his players the way he was treated as a kid growing up in the Sixth Street neighborhood of East St. Louis.
He recalls a teacher named John Williams who made sure all the kids were involved in a summer recreation program, even if it meant going to their homes to see why they weren`t at the playground.
”He kept us out of trouble,” Lewis said. ”He really, really helped a lot of kids. He wouldn`t let anyone quit. If there was a softball game at another playground, he`d pick you up. We`d be stacked in his car.”
As a three-year starter for Lincoln, Lewis received similar treatment from basketball coach Earl Harris. Harris would drive players to and from practice, especially on cold days, and help out however else he could.
”Whatever he could do for guys, he would do,” said Lewis, the fifth among 10 children and the first to finish high school and college. ”It was something we picked up from him. We won`t let one guy have something and not the others if we go someplace. If a guy applies for an assistant coaching job, we say, `This is how we coach. It`s worked real good. It`s the way my coach did it, and we do the same.` ”
”He puts in a lot of time,” said Lincoln`s principal, John Bailey Jr., who has known Lewis since they were kids. ”He takes them to different events. He just participates in so many activities with them. It shows a concerned person, just community-oriented to try to do the best he can not only for the kids at Lincoln but all the kids.”
So it wasn`t any surprise when Lewis answered Harris` call to return to Lincoln to teach and help coach the basketball team, even though he was making more money teaching 6th graders in Saginaw, Mich.
Lewis doesn`t live near Sixth Street anymore. He and his wife, Rowena, an assistant junior high school principal, have a nice home in an East St. Louis suburb, a block from a park with a lake and a golf course. But if he has left the old neighborhood, he hasn`t abandoned it.
”A lot of times, people make it in life, get in the middle class, and they move completely out of the neighborhood,” said Lewis, who also coaches Lincoln`s baseball team. ”I`m always there, visible. The guys can see me. They can call me. If they are playing over at the schoolyards, I`ll be there. I`m in the phone book. If they want the gym open, I`ll come down. I`m there if they need me.”
One thing Lewis knew they needed was a summer basketball program. Because of a lack of funds, East St. Louis lacks the spring and summer leagues so commonplace in the Chicago area. Lewis has made do by opening the gym three nights a week and making players realize that if they want to play in the winter, they had better be there.
It`s one of the few rules he has. The others are also simple: be in condition, go to class, don`t make trouble in class, don`t smoke, don`t drink and don`t take drugs.
On the court, too, Lewis stresses fundamentals and hard work. That`s his answer to the critics who believe he won the state crown in 1982 only because he had Tyrone Jackson and Todd Porter and took the last two state titles primarily because of 6-foot-10-inch superstar LaPhonso Ellis, now a starter at Notre Dame.
”It (the criticism) used to kind of get to me, but now I pay no attention,” Lewis said. ”I`ve seen teams with real good players that didn`t win. They don`t realize the job you have to do to put it together. If you have five or six who can play, you have to get them to play together. We really work hard.”
Perhaps Lewis doesn`t fret about whether he gets enough credit for the Tigers` success because he long ago achieved his biggest coaching ambition. He believes that poor officiating cost him the chance to make the Elite Eight as a player in 1957 and as a coach in 1972, his first season as Lincoln`s head coach. So he vowed he would be satisfied if he could make it to Champaign once. When he finally did in 1982, the Tigers won it all.
”That was always our goal, just to get there,” Lewis said. ”I said I would stay in (coaching) at least till I made it there. I told them if we won that they could do what they wanted with the job. But we had a lot of guys in the gym working hard. They said, `We want to play.` I said I would stay with it.”
What resulted is success beyond his wildest imaginings. Enough that he says he might be ready to step aside if long-time assistant Jethro Brown would agree to take over.
”I never thought a little guy from Sixth Street . . . ,” he began.
”This is something that just doesn`t happen to everyone. Just a select few. We`re fortunate to be a part of it. I have a picture of each of the three (championship) teams. When I`m through, I`ll put them together to keep.”
