Stephan Teodosescu
steodosescu@mustangdaily.net
Jordan Lewis had cancer as a baby.
More specifically, he had neuroblastoma, the most common cancer found in infants and children younger than two years of age. According to the Mayo Clinic, this type of tumor can develop from immature nerve cells found throughout the body and primarily affects the sympathetic nervous system, a portion of the body’s natural control system.
Because of it, Lewis, a former forward on the Cal Poly men’s basketball team, is diagnosed today with Horner’s syndrome, a rare disorder that is precipitated by damaged nerves connecting the eyes and face. He can’t sweat on a portion of the left side of his body. His left eye is a lighter color than his right and his left pupil is a little smaller than it should be.
But that hasn’t stopped Lewis from being around the sport he loves — basketball.
“It’s been something that I’ve really enjoyed,” Lewis said. “Growing up with my friends, we always played basketball together. Since then, I’ve been doing my thing and I’ve loved it.”
The San Rafael, Calif. native had the tumor removed from the upper left part of his chest when he was just three months old and says it hasn’t affected his ability to play since he started in kindergarten. He grew up just a regular kid hooping at the YMCA ranks all the way through AAU and even the NCAA.
Now the 24-year-old Cal Poly alumnus is several months removed from academic life on campus, but still finds himself involved with the men’s basketball program. Lewis earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences last quarter and was named the team’s student-assistant coach throughout the fall. Now that he’s graduated, Lewis is involved in a lesser capacity, but still helps the team practice on an occasional basis and supports the Mustangs at home and on the road.
According to junior forward and roommate Chris Eversley, Lewis primarily helps the younger post players on the team by giving them basketball advice and helps them mesh into head coach Joe Callero’s system.
“He’s able to give a lot of the younger guys a lot of insight on defensive reads and what they should do offensively in the post,” Eversley said. “He’s like an all- encompassing big brother for all the younger guys.”
Callero said he didn’t hesitate bringing Lewis on to the staff this year.
“There’s always something very special about having a former player assisting your program,” Callero said. “(Assistant coach) Sam Kirby played for me at Seattle University. He always brings an insight that I can look back to.”
But playing — let alone coaching — college ball wasn’t always on Lewis’ radar. And Lewis wasn’t always on college teams’ viewfinder either.
According to him, Lewis wasn’t heavily recruited out of Terra Linda High School and didn’t have a serious opportunity to play collegiately until he had already arrived at Cal Poly.
Originally a walk-on with the Mustangs when former coach Kevin Bromley was at the helm, Lewis impressed the coaching staff during open gym his freshman year. Soon afterward, he was told there would be a jersey waiting with his name on it.
“(The coaching staff) said, ‘Hey we’d love to have you come walk-on the team,’” Lewis said. “’There’s a spot for you and we’d love to have you.’”
Not on scholarship, Lewis redshirted his freshman season and only got limited playing time in his second year on campus before Bromley was dismissed as the head coach.
But, Callero, the then-newly acquired head coach, came into the program offering the seldom-used forward an opportunity to shine on a NCAA court.
“It was a chance for me to really to prove myself to coach Callero coming in and show him the skills I had, my strength, athleticism and work ethic,” Lewis said. “I redshirted my first year, didn’t play a lot before that and coach Callero came in and I had my opportunity. After the first game of my (sophomore) season, I started the majority of the games that season. I went from no minutes to a starting position. It was nice because it felt like my hard work had paid off.”
“Hard work” being the key phrase.
Lewis averaged a career-high 24 minutes per game that season and scored more than six points in each contest — the highest total of his career with the Mustangs.
It was the intangibles, things such as his “basketball I.Q.” and leadership, that impressed Callero the most, though. Lewis’ 220-pound frame embodies them, he said.
“You want to know his work ethic, take a look at his body,” Callero said. “It gives a pretty good idea of what kind of work ethic he still has in the weight room.”
Callero dug Lewis’ diligence on the court so much that he offered him a scholarship before his senior year. It came as a complete surprise, Lewis admitted.
“You can’t just give scholarships to anyone who makes the team, they have to further the program and help it be successful,” Callero said. “With Jordan, he was a contributing member on a successful program. Now, we say that he earned that scholarship.”
That drive to continually succeed will be highlighted in Lewis’ next ambitions. Of Jewish heritage, he soon hopes to play professional basketball in Israel before using his degree to matriculate into dental school and one day become a dentist.
Like Sean Bullard, an Oakland-based dentist, advised, Lewis wants to join the professional ranks in athletics before pursuing his academic passion.
“(Bullard) is kind of a mentor to me for the dental profession,” Lewis said. “He said dental school will always be there. Go play while you still can.”
And why not? After all, poor recruitment out of high school didn’t stop him from playing collegiate basketball. Neither did cancer.