Friday, August 17, 2012

Flint Basketball Loses High School Star

Flint Northern's Richie Lewis splits two Flint Powers defenders. (Photo courtesy of Matt Dixon/The Flint Journal)

There are many obvious ways to chart Flint's socio-economic swan dive — population decline, unemployment rates, crime stats. But here's a less obvious sign of hard times; Flint high school basketball stars are leaving the city in search of tougher hoops competition.

Eric Woodyard of mlive reports:
Flint Northern won’t have its star athlete Richie Lewis for football or basketball this season.
Lewis has decided to finish his senior year at Flora Macdonald Academy in Red Springs, N.C. He plans to make the move next week. 
“Really, it’s competition around here, but I feel like if I go to prep school, then I’m going to play against better competition with people who are going to be on a Division I level that will make me better,” said Lewis. “Going somewhere else different will help me start the college process early a little bit, with all of the work that we put in the gym and knowing the coaches will be on you every minute of the day.” 
He isn’t the first Flint basketball player to enroll at Flora Macdonald Academy. Former Flint Carman-Ainsworth shooting guard Anton Wilson transferred to the same school to finish his prep eligibility at the end of last summer.


at 11:39 AM
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 17, 2012 at 11:42 AM

    I think this is just a numbers game. There simply aren't that many high school kids left in the city now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. jt2August 17, 2012 at 2:04 PM

    I'm more proud of the sports players that finish in Flint and excel. We have plenty of competition in our schools especially with all the closings. And not once did I here Richie mention academics. I'm not cool with this move.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sable PeltAugust 17, 2012 at 2:14 PM

    Man, just look at those Powers players elevate!

    ReplyDelete
  4. sgcAugust 17, 2012 at 6:57 PM

    His comments are cogent, reasonable and well articulated. He sounds like a bright young man. Good for him!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.

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