When Scottie Lewis arrived on campus last year as the No. 7 player in the nation (the highest recruit coach Mike White has ever signed at Florida), expectations were understandably high. And though Lewis didn’t have the one-and-done season a lot of fans thought he’d be capable of, he improved markedly down the stretch of the season, and he was UF’s most dominant defender all season.
He didn’t get the chance to show off his skills in the NCAA Tournament as the season was canceled prematurely, but he was expected to be one of the Gators’ better players this season and likely leave for the NBA Draft at its conclusion.
Neither of those things has come to fruition. Lewis’ sophomore season has been an abject disappointment. He missed some time this year, but even then, he’s only started nine of the 19 games he’s appeared in.
Lewis’ offensive game has dropped off significantly. Last year, he only averaged 8.5 points, but he had his big games. In three of the final four games before the season was canceled, he scored in double figures. He got off to a similar start this season, scoring in double figures in six of his first seven contests.
Since the calendar turned to February, though, he’s scored in double figures just once, and in 42 combined minutes at the SEC Tournament, he scored just one point. That’s not going to cut it, and it’s understandable why Lewis has struggled to see the court in recent games. In Tre Mann, Tyree Appleby and Noah Locke, Florida just has more reliable backcourt scoring options.
Lewis was definitely one of the players that was most negatively impacted by the stylistic change that came as a result of Keyontae Johnson‘s collapse. The up-tempo, high-scoring offense clearly suit Lewis, and when the team changed to be run through Mann instead of Johnson, Lewis struggled to adjust.
He’s actually shooting at a slightly higher rate this year at 44.4% (up from 44.1% last year), but both his three-point (30%) and free-throw (66.7%) percentages have taken a dip. His numbers aren’t vastly different on paper, but he has struggled to develop an offensive identity this season.
NEXT: Let’s talk about defense