In his second season with the Aggies, Tom Lewis has taken over a new role as an assistant coach. He joined the Aggies in August 2010 as the coordinator of player development. Lewis brought a wealth of experience at the professional, college and high school levels to New Mexico State.
Lewis helped the Aggies finish third in the WAC (9-7) after the most challenging non-conference schedule since joining the conference along with a 16-17 overall record in 2010-11. NM State set a program record with a 12-game WAC home win streak that dated back to the 2009-10 season. Nationally, the Aggies ranked No. 73 in 3-point field goal defense (32.6 percent) and No. 89 in scoring offense (71.6 points per game). Additionally, NM State paced the WAC in scoring in league games (72.5 point per game).
In the 2009-10 season, Lewis was an assistant coach for the Cal State Los Angeles men's basketball team. He spent the previous five years, from 2003-08, as the head boy's basketball coach at JSerra High School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., following a stint as a women's assistant coach at Rutgers in 2002-03.
Professionally, Lewis was the head coach for the Chicago Blaze in the National Women's Basketball League in 2002 and an assistant coach for Cheryl Miller with the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury in 2000. Lewis began his collegiate coaching career at Long Beach State as an assistant coach for the men's basketball team from 1996-00. Additionally, Lewis also has vase individual training experience with professional athletes, and most recently, Tyson Chandler of the Charlotte Bobcats.
Lewis played for three seasons at Pepperdine, 1987-90, and was a two-time first team All-West Coast Conference selection. As a freshman at Southern California, he was the nation's leading freshmen scorer in 1986 with 17.5 points per game. Professionally, Lewis played for the Bella Ness team in Portugal's Division I league in 1990-91. He was a McDonald's High School All-American and California Player of the Year in 1985 while at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif.
Lewis graduated from Pepperdine with a bachelor's degree in organizational communication in 1990. Lewis and his wife, Tuonisia, have a daughter, Angel, (16).
