It still embarrasses him, he admitted, but Thad Matta had no earthly idea who Ron Lewis was after Lewis's senior season in high school. And Matta coached Xavier then, a mid-major program that could ill afford to overlook any player, no matter how obscure.
But Lewis has a history of being overlooked, one that continues through Ohio State's run to the Final Four despite his heroics. Overshadowed by Greg Oden and OSU's four other high-profile freshmen — a group dubbed the "Thad Five" after their head coach — Lewis has been the Buckeyes' leading scorer in the NCAA tournament, providing senior leadership, a knack for clutch plays and the most memorable shot of the tournament.
Lewis came off the bench at Brookhaven High in Columbus, Ohio, during his senior year, a reserve behind star guards Drew Lavender (now at Xavier) and Jamelle Cornley (Penn State). Although Lewis still led state champion Brookhaven in scoring and rebounding, he went lightly recruited and wound up at Bowling Green before transferring. Despite Lewis's emergence during the past month, it still seems no one knows who he is.
"I'm just used to it," Lewis said. "You always want to be on a great team. For people to be on great teams, you have to be a great. I'm just trying to do the best I can to help this team out, and if that's taking the back row and sitting down and letting the freshmen get all the spotlight, that's what I'm going to do."
Lewis came back to Columbus, his home town, because he wasn't winning enough. Bowling Green went 13-16 and then 14-17 in Lewis's two years there, souring his all-MAC freshman team and second team all-MAC seasons. Lewis enjoyed Coach Dan Dakich — who resigned at the end of this season — but he wanted to play for a winning team.
When a fax arrived in Matta's office saying Lewis had transferred to Ohio State, he sought his assistants and asked, "Who is this kid?" But Matta had just arrived from Xavier and the Buckeyes reeled from the scandal Jim O'Brien left behind, the NCAA placing Ohio State on probation for rules violations.
"We needed to fill scholarships," Matta said. "We were like, 'If he can walk and chew gum, we'll take him.' "
Matta watched film of Lewis, spoke with former coaches and people who had played with him and sat down to speak with Lewis. Matta had little choice, anyway, but he was convinced Lewis would fit.
Ivan Harris, now an OSU senior, had seen Lewis play while growing up in Springfield, Ohio. He remembered the wild alley-oops he would slam down at Brookhaven, the way he could, "jump out of the gym." Harris was surprised when more college teams didn't recruit Lewis.
"I knew he would be a big lift for our team," Harris said. "Just his ability to shoot and attack the basket."
Lewis struggled with an inconsistent shot and unsure ballhandling when he arrived at Ohio State. He had been a slasher at Bowling Green, where he averaged 17 points as a sophomore, and he needed to improve his outside touch.
While he sat out of a year because of the NCAA's transfer rule, he played against OSU guard JeKel Foster, then a starter. Lewis played on the practice team, and his skills improved each day as he tangled with Foster. His shot kept improving, and this season he made a career-best 36 percent of his three-point attempts.
A few weeks before the tournament started, Matta noticed Lewis taking a more pronounced leadership role. He would show one of those star freshmen the proper footwork during practice or take a teammate aside in the locker room. Lewis averaged 12.8 points this season, but teammates could tell he was about to blossom.
And when it mattered most, Lewis did. In the second round against Xavier, he scored 27, his high as a Buckeye, three of them the biggest points of the season on the most recognizable shot of the tournament. Ohio State had trailed by 11, but after Justin Cage missed the second of two free throws, the Buckeyes had a last gasp, trailing by three.
On the Buckeyes' ensuing possession, Lewis wheeled around freshman point guard Mike Conley and received a dribble hand-off. Two defenders followed Conley, the star point guard, and left Lewis, the under-the-radar senior, alone. Lewis smoothly elevated and drilled the open three-pointer from just to the right of the top of the key, sending the game into overtime and keeping Ohio State's season alive.
His confidence surged as teams continued to focus on stopping the penetration of Conley and double-teaming Oden. He scored 25 points against Tennessee, 18 in the second half as the Buckeyes' erased a 17-point halftime deficit.
Even if Lewis, somehow, remains anonymous to some, his teammates appreciate him. When the Buckeyes cut down the nets in the Alamodome, he climbed the ladder for the first snip. Lewis stood alone, much like he had during the previous games, with the focus mainly on Ohio State's stars.
"It's giving us an extra edge if they don't spotlight me," Lewis said. "Hopefully, they don't."