South Florida in the mix with local four-star guard
South Florida is going all-out in pursuit of 2025 Blake High School (Tampa, FL) wing Joshua Lewis, and while it's early in his recruitment, the Bulls appear to have as good a chance as anyone, or better, for the No. 89 ranked prospect in the 2025 class.
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"I talk to coach [Desmond] Oliver a lot. He calls me, like, every week, just checking up on me. It's cool and I've been up to the school two times to watch the practices and workouts," Lewis said.
Lewis and his high school teammate 2026 forward Joe Philon took an unofficial visit to USF on Aug. 1 and Lewis returned on Sept. 16
What do the USF coaches like most about Lewis?
"They like the way I shoot the ball. They love my attitude and they like the fact that I can dribble the ball at my size too."
Lewis had never watched a college team workout. What he saw made a big impression.
"The intensity is just, it's a whole nother level," he said. "Everybody's talking. Everybody's running to the next drill. Like there's no walking in practice. And then everything was live in the one practice I saw. It was real physical. Everything was just a different level than the high school game."
In addition to USF, Lewis also holds offers from Cincinnati, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech. The 6-foot-7, 185-pounder said that he is also hearing from Arkansas, NC State, Illinois, Michigan State, LSU, Appalachian State, SMU, Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Loyola-Chicago.
"USF, Virginia Tech, Arkansas and Michigan State have come in [to see him] the past week,” he said.
Lewis has been limited recently on the basketball court because he just had a cast removed from his right hand three weeks ago.
"I was at a Run and I reached for the ball and my hand hit someone's knee and it broke. It was, like, right under my knuckle," Lewis said.
While in the cast Lewis worked on getting better with his off hand.
"I was working on my left hand and lifting," said Lewis. "A lot of left hand ball handling, finishing, passing all that type of stuff. Because I needed to get my left hand stronger."
In case were wondering, the answer is yes, Joshua Lewis’ father is Fred Lewis. The elder Lewis played for USF (1989-92) and ranks in USF’s all-time top-20 in career points (1,105) ranking No. 17 in program history. Fred Lewis made 56.0 percent of his FGA (5th all-time) and ranks tenth all-time in steals 139. He is also the head basketball coach at Blake HS.
For Joshua, playing for his dad has been a good thing.
“It’s great because I feel like, in that environment, I can become the best possible player that I could by having him as a coach,” Lewis said. “Since he’s the coach of the school I have 24-hour access to the gym. Basically, I’ve got the keys. So, that’s great overall.”
We are a long way off from Lewis making his school choice but he already knows some of the things he is looking for in a place to go to school.
“The main two things that I look for are player development and a home-like feeling. Like a great coaching staff and a team that gets along and feels like family. Those are the two biggest things.