What to expect with Nyk Lewis at Xavier, his fit in the Big East and expectations this season

August 29, 2024 by Colby Giacubeno

Earlier this afternoon, Xavier landed the commitment of 2025 top-150 point guard Nyk Lewis. The tough-nosed, D.C. native has spent his high school career as a standout for Gonzaga College High School in the WCAC and Team Takeover on the EYBL Circuit. 

Lewis hit the high school scene and immediately set high expectations with his immediate contributions as a freshman in what many consider one of the toughest conferences in the country. Over the course of the last three years, he’s expanded his game in many aspects while developing his body and while going through the natural maturation process, has turned into a physical, downhill guard that lives in the paint. 

MADE spoke with Lewis’ high school coach, Steve Turner, on what Lewis will bring to the Musketeers, why he fits the Big East mold and how he’s grown as a leader as the Purple Eagles enter this season as the favorites to win the WCAC.

“What he brings to the table for Xavier is a kid who’s mentally and physically tough,” Turner told MADE Hoops. “He has an ability to play on and off the ball. When he’s playing on the ball he has an ability to make others better, but in crunch time you know you can put the ball in his hands and he can make things happen for himself or the guys around him.”

Head coach Sean Miller and associate head coach Adam Cohen did a great job of winning this battle. Other programs such as Creighton, Georgetown, LSU, Michigan and Seton Hall were included in the group vying for his services.

“I think what makes him and Coach Miller go together is the commonality of them both being PG’s. I think Coach sees that kid that he needs in the back court who’s going to bring it every single night. Whether they win or lose, Nyk’s going to leave everything he can out on the floor. I think Nyk saw him as a coach who can take him to the next level from the position that he plays. He’s got ambitions and as a lot of these kids, he wants to get to the three letters. Coach Miller has proven to be able to do that with kids at that spot. I think Nyk is built like the old school Big East guards. I think Coach really saw that in him. I’ve always joked with people that Nyk is an old school New York guard and when you think of those type of guys, you think of the Big East.”

Turner’s cupboard is filled with talent, as he’ll feature five Division I commits in his rotations. Christian Gurdak (Virginia Tech), Will Harper (Richmond), Alex Touomou (considering Brown, Harvard, Northeastern) and Derek Dixon (considering Arizona, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, and Vanderbilt among others) will lead the senior-laden group as they seek a conference title. Lewis’ experience and growth as a leader will be a key component in their success.

“I think this summer he realized how much he needs to become more vocal. And how he’s going to have to be the guy who makes our team player-led. He’s gonna have to understand he may have to ruffle some feathers this year. Doing that doesn’t mean the relationship has to change between his teammates being brothers and friends, but in order to achieve something that he and the rest of the guys on the team want to achieve, we’re going to need Nyk to push some guys to push some guys to seeing how great they are that don’t know how great they are yet. I don’t believe that’s going to come from our staff. This is something that’s going to have to come from them themselves and I believe he’s the guy that can be the catalyst of that.”

“I’ve watched him do it because I watch our guys' games during the summer and it was good to watch Nyk become more vocal in situations that we’re going to need him to be vocal in for us to be able to have the success we want to have this year. He has a stale taste in his mouth from last year and he has a hunger to finish something that he believes our team can achieve.”