It’s been clear for some time that Virginia is making it a point to recruit kids from the DMV, as the Hoos have been very active in that market the past few years.
A couple of 2025 DMV prospects have already been in town this fall but just recently Acaden Lewis from Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC was on Grounds for a visit.
The past few years Sidwell Friends has been looked at by some observers as the UVa of DC Basketball. This year, Lewis is part of an extremely good Sidwell team that also features 2024 Caleb Williams, who is another UVa target.
“Honestly I think I am a Swiss army knife for this year’s Sidwell team,” he told CavsCorner recently. “I think I just do whatever is needed. Sometimes I will be asked to get the ball to my teammates but other times I will need to score the ball. Cam and Caleb are our leaders but sometimes I will need to step my game up and be a leader.”
UVa gets the honor of being the first school Lewis visited and he called that “special” before raving about what he saw and heard during his time with Tony Bennett and Jason Williford.
“My visit went great,” he explained “Coach Bennett is not just a great coach but a really nice guy. UVa has been talking to my coaches about me for a while. It was really cool that UVa got to be my first ever college visit. It was cool to really see what Coach Bennett values and I got to meet a lot of the players after watching them practice. My high school team at Sidwell plays really similar to UVa so I think if I were to go to Virginia, Coach Singletary would do a really good job of preparing me to go there.”
During his visit, he got to not only see the guys in action but he also got to spend some time with them as well.
“How they move the ball really stood out and how fast they did it was really something,” Lewis recalled. “They are really fundamental with their passes. They do good ball fakes, they get in the gaps and this all helps them shoot the ball really well. They really can shoot the ball and I think some of their players are going to have really high percentages this year.
“I was able to talk to some of the players after practice and it was interesting to kind of pick their brain about how they are enjoying themselves at UVa,” he added. “I talked to them about how poised they are when they play and the pace that they play with. I talked to them about how they don’t over dribble on offense which is something we focus on at Sidwell. Overall the conversations went pretty well and they all gave great praise to Coach Bennett, Coach Williford and the rest of the staff.”
After watching the Cavaliers practice, it was another example of why Lewis could see himself there.
“I think I would be able to fit in pretty well,” he said. “One thing Coach Singletary and I are working on heavily is being more efficient and getting easy buckets, working on back door cuts, quick pass and shoot opportunities so I think if I were on that and continue to develop the next few years with Coach Singletary, I think I would fit in very well at schools like Virginia.”
Another aspect of what life would be like at UVa that Lewis was able to get an appreciation for was the size of the actual campus.
“I didn’t know how big the campus was,” he said. “The campus is actually extremely large and the facilities are super nice and I really enjoyed getting down there because this was my first unofficial visit.”
At this point, Lewis is in no rush to make a college decision but with UVa being close to DC, it’s fair to ask if location will make an impact on where he decides to go.
“I think at the end of the day location will matter to me but it is not the most important thing,” Lewis said. “I will be making my decision on what I know and how well I relate to the people above me. It is most important to go somewhere where you are needed and where you fit it. Whoever I think wants me the most and relates to my family the best, will be the school that I choose to go to.”
