Sept. 18, 2007
2002 Charlotte Lewis radio interview, courtesy of WGLT radio
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State athletics family suffered a great loss with the passing of former women's basketball player Charlotte Lewis. Lewis passed away from a heart attack on the evening of Monday, Sept. 17, in Kansas City, Mo. A former All-American, Olympian and professional player, Lewis was 52 years old.
Lewis was the first in a line of great women's basketball players at Illinois State and led the Redbirds to 63 wins and four AIAW state championships in her tenure. A prolific rebounder, Lewis ranks in the top-10 in career rebounds (658) and rebounding average (7.4). She also is in the top-10 in career scoring average (12.4 ppg) and field goal percentage (.505).
As a junior, she set the ISU single-season rebounding record with 345 boards, helped along by four games that rank in the top-10 on the school's single-game rebounding list. She was named a Kodak All-American and was a finalist for the Wade Trophy, presented to the best Division I women's basketball player. During her senior season, she averaged 17.5 points and a school record 11.0 rebounds per game.
After her playing days at Illinois State were finished, Lewis received two of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a student-athlete. In 1983, she was one of 13 inductees into the Illinois State Athletics Hall of Fame. Perhaps a more impressive honor came on January 12, 2002, when during a Redbird game against Creighton, Lewis's No. 30 jersey was retired. Lewis, Cathy Boswell, and Doug Collins are the only three Redbirds to have their jerseys hanging in Redbird Arena.
The significance of Lewis' basketball career went far beyond her time at Illinois State. She won medals playing for the United States at the World Championships and the Pan-American Games. In 1976, she was a member United States Olympic Team at the XXI Olympiad in Montreal, Quebec. It was the first year that women's basketball was a part of the Olympics and the U.S. won the silver medal. She also played professional basketball for 15 years in Europe, South America and in the United States. Forever the student-athlete, she returned to Illinois State in the late 1990s and earned her bachelor's degree.
Jill Hutchison coached Lewis all four years she was at ISU and while she was shocked by the news of her passing. The memories she will have of Lewis are of her impact as a basketball player and as a human being.
"Charlotte had her heart in the right place at all times," Hutchison said. "She came out of a very difficult environment and her commitment to basketball and education gave her the opportunity to live all over the world. As a basketball player, she was, without a doubt, the most dominating rebounder the game has ever seen. As a person, she was a gentle giant. For me, one of the neatest things about Charlotte is that after she finished playing internationally, she came back at the ripe age of 40 and finished her undergraduate degree. She was very proud of that and used her education to do lot of great things in the Peoria community with disadvantaged kids."
More details will be made available on GoRedbirds.com as they become available.
