Andre and La’Tosha Lewis aren’t married — or even related. They’re just two basketball coaches who happened upon the same school at the same time.
Now, they do just about everything together.
“You could say that’s my brother, at work,” La’Tosha says. “We’re real close.”
They teach P.E. and driver’s education at Strawberry Crest High School, and also coach the girls flag football team. But their biggest successes lie with the school’s basketball program. Together, they’ve created some of the top boys and girls teams in the area.
Both Chargers teams appear to be playoff-bound this season, with the girls already going through the district tournament and the boys currently preparing for theirs. Their philosophies are similar — team chemistry and dedication to meeting goals is the foundation — but their on-court approaches differ somewhat.
Much like the Lewises, who have similar coaching styles but took different roads to get to this point.
A COACH AT ALL LEVELS
In La’Tosha Lewis’s case, it didn’t take long for her to realize that she wanted to be a coach.
A three-sport athlete in Houston, Lewis earned a four-year basketball scholarship to Stephen F. Austin University and, while playing the 1-4 positions, became the team’s captain. This helped her get an idea of what she wanted to do with her future.
“The coach always put me in a position to lead,” Lewis says. “I started coaching there right after I graduated.”
Lewis played some semi-pro ball, mostly as a small forward, but focused largely on coaching after graduation. She spent nine years in the college ranks, coming to Florida in 1999 to take a position as UCF’s recruiting coordinator. After coaching an AAU team in 2003, she made her way to Plant City to work as a supervisor for the MLK Recreation Center.
Opportunity arose in 2009, when Strawberry Crest first opened its doors. Lewis took a job as an assistant coach but was promoted when the original head coach left the school in November. The promotion made her the head coach of a team for the first time.
“It was exciting,” Lewis says. “I was always torn between whether I wanted to come to high school or not. It was a challenge for me, but exciting — new school, no expectations, and I got to build the program.”
BITTERSWEET SYMPHONY
A true Georgia boy, Lewis played positions 1-3 over four years at Westover High School in the early 1990s. Notably, Lewis and his teammates won four consecutive AAA state championships from 1990 to 1993.
He played college hoops at Western Kentucky University for a while before transferring to Southeastern Louisiana University. His pro career took him to the Continental Basketball Association for a year and then overseas, to Luxembourg, Germany. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Lewis felt that he needed to go back to America immediately.
This brought him to Tampa, and he got his start in coaching in 2003, as a Blake High School assistant. He was hired in 2006 to coach Tampa Bay Tech’s junior varsity team and in 2007, took the head job at Hillsborough High School. Strawberry Crest wasn’t his first rebuilding project.
“Leaving Hillsborough was bittersweet,” Lewis says. “We had just built the team up to a 21-9 record, the district title, and everyone was coming back.”
But, he made his decision to move to Plant City to grow closer to a program. While at Hillsborough, Lewis taught P.E. at Sulfur Springs Elementary; moving to Crest meant that Lewis would get to work at the high school, which is what he had really wante.
“Every year, we got better,” he says.
FUTURE PLANS
Expectations are high for both teams, and both Lewises are ready for any challenge.
The Lady Chargers currently are hosting the district tournament, with the championship game scheduled for tonight.
“The goal is to win the championship at home, since we’re hosting,” La’Tosha says.
The boys don’t begin district tournament play until next week, but many think that they will face East Bay in the championship game.
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.