UK signee Acaden Lewis Wanted to Help KY Flood Victims

Acaden Lewis will not play for UK coach Mark Pope until next season but Acaden and his father, Jarett, still wanted to find a way to help eastern Kentucky flood victims. (UK Athletics Photo)

When Kentucky basketball commit Acaden Lewis and his father, Jarett, learned about the devastating floods in eastern Kentucky, they wanted to do something to help.

“We are big on community service,” Jarett Lewis explained.

Even though they live in Washington, D.C., they reached out and found a way to help those in eastern Kentucky. They sent extra gear that Acaden had accumulated to Pikeville High School basketball coach Elisha Justice.

“He has accumulated a lot of stuff over the years from the (Nike) EYBL circuit and the various camps he has attended,” Jarett said. “We were looking for a way to gift some of those things to families or maybe a rec center when we saw what was going on in Kentucky. We just thought it was a good opportunity to connect with the folks in Kentucky who needed some help.”

Acaden, a 6-2, 170-pound guard, is a top 40 national prospect who came close to committing to UConn before a late home visit from Kentucky coach Mark Pope convinced him to pick Kentucky.

“For us it is so cool to see everything that has happened for him basketball-wise but we are a family and look at ourselves as part of the community,” Jarett said. “He chose Kentucky as his next home and will carry ourselves as no different than people born and raised in eastern Kentucky.  We would hope if there was a natural disaster here in D.C. that someone would do their best to help in time of need. So our role is just to try and maybe help a few folks out in Kentucky.”

The Lewis family thought the pictures from eastern Kentucky were “devastating” and knew based on the love they had received from Kentucky fans since Acaden’s commitment that they needed to try and help.

“Acaden knows Kentucky will soon be his new home and wants to be able to impact the community there like he has here,” the player’s father said. “We have done our best to raise Acaden in a way that he understands not everything revolves around him and to get to where he is now he had to be selfless.

“He was not always the best player on his team and had to watch others thrive. His outlook is a little different from others in the same position but he will be able to relate to people when he gets to Kentucky. He might be going to a blue blood school but he is a blue collar kid.”

Lewis’ senior season has not gone exactly as planned because a foot issue has limited his game availability. His father said the family tried to find a positive from the injury when Acaden had to figure out alternative ways to stay in shape so he would be able to play when his injury healed.

“He got stronger during the break. Injuries are part of the game but you have got to continue to find ways to improve. He got significantly stronger and one thing we had highlighted in his preparation for UK was that he needed to get stronger,” Jarett said. “He made the sacrifices to get up for physical therapy at 5:30 a.m. or to go to strength and conditioning at 6 a.m. or maybe 8 p.m. He made the most of his down time and I think that bodes well for UK.”

Jarett Lewis was anxious to see how Pope would “weather the storms” when things didn’t go well and fans were upset and criticizing him and players.

“I thought at times when the criticism amped up on Pope or the players, he did a magnificent job diffusing the noise and taking ownership that we didn’t meet the standard and we have to be better,” Jarett said. “He didn’t let the wheels fall out when they had injuries. HIs positive energy rejuvenated the team.”

He likes that Pope is not a get-in-your-face coach but is more unorthodox with his constant positive energy.

“I think this is a fun team to love,” the UK signee’s father said. “I think if Mark could have picked the ideal way to start out this is probably the team he wanted and would go back and do the same thing with an older team that had the ability to adjust faster to the expectations and demands of the fan base.”

He said he was not sure his son and signees Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno with a mixture of portal players would have been the “ideal” first team for Pope.

“This way he’s been able to establish the culture he wants with an older team and I think that has worked out really well,” Jarett said.