Bill Lewit named John Curtis boys basketball head coach

William “Bill” Lewit has been named the new head basketball coach at John Curtis Christian School.

Lewit brings with him a stellar list of accomplishments, including a national title as head coach in 2006 while at Cecil College and was inducted into the Cecil College Hall of Fame in 2020. He was most recently the assistant basketball coach at the University of Tennessee-Martin.

No stranger to Louisiana, Lewit spent 8 years at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. He is also no stranger to the city of New Orleans because before his stint at NSU, he spent two seasons at the University of New Orleans. UNO was his first Division I coaching job in 2009 after spending 15 seasons at Cecil College.

Part of the National Junior College Athletic Association, Cecil College is placed in Division II. He coached high school basketball in the state of Maryland for four years before taking the job at Cecil. The school was not very well known for basketball before Lewit arrived. During his time there, he not only turned the program around, but he led them to national prominence on an annual basis.

Some of his accomplishments at Cecil include being named Maryland JUCO coach of the year nine times, Region XX coach of the year six times and earning 2006 national JUCO coach of the year.

His 2006 team also won the NJCAA Division II national championship. He directed the team to five straight seasons with 31 or more wins, while compiling an overall record of 354-89. In 2004, his team scored 104.9 points per game, which led the nation. His teams won 5 straight Maryland JUCO state championships and 6 regional championships. Not only did his team thrive on the court, but his players graduated at a 90% rate from junior college and received their Associate’s Degree.

Lewit backed up what he preached on the court by stressing the importance of education. He taught numerous classes while at Cecil College. From 1996-2009, he taught eight accredited courses. He also was named Cecil’s director of enrollment for 11 years; While holding that job, the college saw its enrollment numbers increase by more than 50 percent.

A self-described “gym rat,” Lewit is a lover of all sports. He was a two-sport letterman during his college playing days at Salisbury University, a Division III school. He played wide receiver on the football team in the fall, leading the team in receptions and yards and also played basketball in the winter, where he led the team in 3-point percentage and free throw percentage. In 1991, he was named the Salisbury University Athlete of the Year. In high school, he also excelled in baseball. He was named All County in all three sports; football, basketball and baseball and was named the Red Bank Regional (New Jersey) Outstanding Male Athlete in 1987.

Lewit will replace long time head basketball coach Mike Krajcer. Lewit will be a full-time faculty member at John Curtis Christian School where he will teach in the classroom and will oversee all aspects of the boys basketball program, which has students from 3rd-12th grade.

Lewit will leave shortly thereafter to head to Las Vegas to coach in The 5 Tournament which features six teams made up of NBA alumni. The tournament will run from July 19-29.