Arizona lands top-25 2023 guard prospect KJ Lewis
A week after landing the first 5-star prospect of the Tommy Lloyd era, Arizona struck gold again late Wednesday night.
KJ Lewis, a 4-star guard from El Paso, Texas, announced on Twitter he has committed to the Wildcats. The 6-foot-4, 185-pound 2-guard chose Arizona over seven other finalists: UCLA, Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, Houston, Memphis, and Texas Tech.
Bear Down 🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ftkPkYjcXH
— kj lewis (@thekjlewis) March 10, 2022
Lewis ranks as the No. 15 shooting guard in the class and the 63rd-ranked prospect overall, according to the industry-generated 247 Composite. The evaluators at 247Sports themselves have Lewis as a top-25 prospect and the third-best off-guard in his class. Lewis is also the 22nd-ranked prospect overall in the Rivals rankings. As tends to be the case with these things, the Composite ranking gets dragged down by ESPN’s system, which doesn’t have Lewis among its top 60 prospects for some reason.
Either way, it’s an excellent get for Arizona and for Lloyd.
“The playing style there is what did it for me,” Lewis told 247Sports. “The guys playing for Coach Lloyd have a brotherhood and they are having fun. That is the biggest thing for me. I just want to have fun and hoop. Coach Lloyd being a player’s coach will allow me to do that and the atmosphere in Tuscon is just crazy.”
Joining 5-star Kylan Boswell in the Cats’ 2023 class, Lewis gives Arizona the No. 2 class in the country at the moment. He’s the second known commitment to the group.
In 63 career games for Chapin High School, Lewis has averaged 20.4 points, 5.2 boards, three assists, and 3.5 steals per game. He’s got a good frame already for such a young player and plays like a guard who’ll fit right into Arizona’s up-tempo, attacking style. Lewis plays with physicality and explosiveness, looking to get to the rim. He shot 53% from the field in each of his last two seasons.