Lewis eager to return to court

Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2002 | 9:59 a.m.

NEXT UP

What: Global Sports at UNLV

When: Today, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Thomas & Mack

TV: None

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

Tickets: $15, $8 and $5

No Rebel will be more excited than Jermaine Lewis to finally play someone else with the referees blowing their whistles tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center.

UNLV plays Global Sports, and while it's only an exhibition game it will be Lewis' first competitive game since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in practice Feb. 26, 2001. Plus, Global Sports got UNLV's attention by beating the Rebels a year ago.

Lewis showed that he's hungry and ready to go when he won the 3-point-shooting competition at the last week's Fan Jam at the T&M.

"I've come a long way," Lewis said. "I mean, I remember starting my rehab, working out with five-pound weights. It was more mental than anything."

Late last spring, he finally removed the knee brace that had reminded him of so much pain. The instant before he made a quick cut, left or right, he'd feel the brace and hope he wouldn't do anything to reinjure his knee.

Two weeks after shelving the brace, he returned to his former self, moving without hesitation and staying within the flow of the action.

"Before I'd move, I would actually pick up that (right) foot, thinking about it," Lewis said. "I worked hard to get back. Right now, I think I'm better than what I was. I'll have to produce, so teams can't double (team) on (Marcus) Banks and Dalron (Johnson)."

Lewis, a Houston native, averaged 9.3 points after transferring from Kilgore Junior College in Texas. He shot 41 percent from the field and only 49 percent at the line, but he had a promising 35.3-percent touch beyond the 3-point arc.

In three weeks of practice, he has looked sticky on defense and smooth on offense. He will be easy to recognize, too, when he smiles after hitting a big shot or shutting down an opponent.

Lewis's three gold-capped front teeth, two spaced apart to the right with one between them on the bottom, will give him away.

"It's just something the boys do down south," he said.

As for the Rebels, one thing is more important than anything else.

"Defense," Lewis said. "Everything else comes next. If you play defense, you'll be on the court. I think we have a pretty good team right now, but if we do what coach (Charlie) Spoonhour says to do on defense, everything else will come."

"I don't know, we have to see who's healthy," he said.

At one point during Monday's practice, with his roster depleted, Spoohour yelled, "Got someone big enough to even look like a center?"

By that point, J.K. Edwards, a promising 6-foot-8, 250-pound transfer from Indian Hills Community College, had disappeared, seeking treatment for a right-thigh injury that he had sustained earlier in practice.

Friday and Sunday, Edwards displayed a wealth of skills at times. He showed a deft touch close to the basket, a splendid ability to pass the ball and soft hands in catching it.

His condition has been another matter, and assistant coach Deane Martin works with Edwards before and after every practice, overseeing the center's lap-running and other condition drills.

The UNLV coaching staff privately acknowledges that the Rebels might not be able to achieve all that they want to this season if Edwards doesn't become their force in the middle. He won't even play much if he doesn't exert himself on the boards.

"I think he's capable of anything," said senior point guard Marcus Banks. "I think you have to make him mad, kind of, at first, because he just doesn't play real mean. If he comes out and plays mean, you know it's business."

Junior forward James Peters took exception, and one of his elbows smacked the left side of Hill's nose. Hill immediately dropped the pad and disgustedly walked away from play in Cox Pavilion.

"It just hurts when I chew and stuff," said Hill, sporting a lump and a little black-and-blue coloring on his nose.

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