Updated April 9 at 6:06 pm CST
Marquette men’s basketball redshirt first-year forward Justin Lewis provided fans with news that had them excited for a while.
Earlier Saturday afternoon, around 1 pm CST, during an Instagram Live, Lewis was asked by a Marquette fan if he would be coming back for another season or not.
The forward had appeared to announce his plans for next season when he responded with “yeah I am staying at MU.”
BREAKING: Justin Lewis announced on his Instagram Live that he is staying for another year at Marquette. Huge news for #mubb. @JacksonGrossMU contributed on this.
Video via @BigEastBuckets_ pic.twitter.com/ZPWgQgACt1
— John Leuzzi (@JohnLeuzziMU) April 9, 2022
Then at 3:04 pm CST, Lewis announced on Twitter that he is “still weighing” his options.
In less than two seasons at Marquette, the Baltimore, Maryland, native went from a highly-rated prospect not getting a ton of opportunities to a star player for the Golden Eagles.
The 6-foot-7 Lewis was named the BIG EAST Most Improved Player this season after averaging 17.1 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this season. In his first year season in 2020-21, Lewis averaged 7.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in 21 games.
Additionally, Lewis earned ALL-BIG EAST First Team honors after leading the conference in scoring at 18.2 points in league play.
Lewis could have either tested the NBA draft waters or forgone the remaining of his NCAA eligibility by declaring for the draft, but concerns of his inconsistency on offense had him listed as a second round pick in latest mock drafts.
The return of Lewis would add an extra layer of experience for Marquette next season in Year 2 of the Shaka Smart Era. It would also mean Lewis should be an early favorite for BIG EAST Player of the Year next season.
Marquette would return its leading scorer and rebounder from this season if Lewis does stay. The Golden Eagles are expected to open up the 2022-23 season Nov. 7 against the Big Sun Conference’s Radford, according to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.
Jackson Gross contributed to this story.
This story is developing.
This article was written by John Leuzzi. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JohnLeuzziMU.
