New Ulm's Lewis commits to play basketball at Minnesota State

Brooklyn Lewis followed along last season as the Minnesota State women’s basketball team made its run to the second national championship in program history. When Lewis, a junior guard at New Ulm, got an offer from the Mavericks over the summer, it was an easy call to make the early commitment, given the state of the program. “I absolutely love the coaching staff. They’re people I want to be around,” Lewis said. “I just can see myself being around them, being around the campus and being around the community. I just feel like I fit there the most.” Minnesota Moorhead, Minnesota Duluth and Michigan Tech were among other schools that recruited Lewis. Lewis has many connections to the MSU program, including fellow New Ulm native and MSU graduate Joey Batt, one the best players in program history and a key player on the championship team last season. Batt played for the Minnesota Rise AAU basketball program during the offseason in high school, which is the same team Lewis plays on now. Lewis said Batt spoke with the team about playing at MSU. “Hearing her talk about her experiences and the success at MSU really kind of inspired me,” Lewis said. “It really made me think that, ‘yes, this is a good choice. This is where I want to be.’” Lewis is coming off a strong sophomore season for the Eagles, but she dealt with significant adversity. In the fifth game of the regular season, she suffered a broken wrist, which required surgery. She missed 13 contests while recovering and rehabbing. Lewis still earned All-Big South Conference honors despite playing in only 15 games, averaging 15 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 steals per game. She has started since eighth grade and already had 946 career points. New Ulm coach Julie Rogers said Lewis developed a lot after returning from the injury, especially on defense. Rogers pointed out that along with the 4 steals per game, Lewis also averaged 4 deflections per game, so she created plenty of havoc. “She’s really upped her defensive game,” Rogers said. “She anticipates what someone is going to do and beats them to the spot. She gets her hands on the ball to strip it or tip it away to a teammate.” The MSU program is known for its fast-paced style of play and pressing defense, which was also appealing to Lewis. “On our high school team, we play upbeat and press. Our AAU team is press,” Lewis said. “The fast pace that MSU plays at is really a fit for me.” With two years of high school basketball remaining and her college choice settled, Lewis feels she’ll have extra time to work on her game before making the jump to the next level. More consistency shooting and strength training will be areas of focus. Rogers feels that Lewis has already taken a big step as both a playmaker and scorer off the dribble in recent months, and that her jump shot will continue to improve with more reps. “She reads a defense so well,” Rogers said. “She knows how to get open or knows what she should do to help somebody else get open.” College still feels like it’s a long way away, but Lewis is already anticipating being a part of the culture at MSU. “I’m just excited to learn how they go about (things),” Lewis said. “Just very excited to create a whole new family.”
Courtesy of: mankatofreepress.com