Kentucky basketball commit’s recipe for success - failure, adversity and being told he wasn’t good enough

Sidwell Friends’ Acaden Lewis is coming off a monster summer, and he’s just scratching the surface

Acaden Lewis, a Kentucky men's basketball commit, is all smiles as he shows off the 2023-24 DCSAA Class AA championship plaque and a piece of the net after leading Sidwell Friends to the crown. / Courtesy of the Lewis Family

Despite being named the 2023-2024 Washington, DC Gatorade Player of the year after leading Sidwell Friends to a 27-4 record, the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference title, and the DCSAA Class AA tournament championship while averaging 14.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game, lefty 6-foot-2 point guard Acaden Lewis entered the summer AAU gauntlet with plenty to prove.

Previously seen as a mid-major prospect, the scouting report changed after his dominant performances on the Nike EYBL circuit and at the Nike Top 100, Chris Paul and Damian Lillard camps, along with spectacular showings at the SLAM Summer Classic at Rucker Park and the Under Armour Elite 24 game.

That’s when the college basketball blue bloods got into the recruiting mix as Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, two-time defending national champion UCONN, Duke and others began to make their scholarship offers.

“The first schools that showed interest in me were Ohio University, Bryant, Brown, Norfolk State and a few others,” said Lewis. “When Bryant offered, I was super happy. That’s when it clicked that I was going to be a Division I basketball player one day. After this spring and summer, when the top programs started offering, I really didn’t get gassed up or amped up. My dad always told me that this hoops journey would be a process and that everything would eventually come together at the exact moment it was supposed to.” 

His breakout summer had been a long time coming though, with years of disappointment and setbacks that had long been marinating.

Acaden Lewis posed for a photo with NBA superstar Kevin Durant at the KD Elite Skills Camp. / Photo Courtesy of the Lewis Family

“Everything that’s now coming Acaden’s way, he’s earned through hard work and perseverance,” said Wayne Pratt, Kevin Durant’s father, who coached Lewis over the past few summers for Team Durant on the Nike AAU circuit. “I’ve coached a few great players that have come out of this area and he’s going to be one of them. He can score at all three levels, he’s a willing defender, he’s got a knack for sneaking into passing lanes to make steals, he cares about his teammates and what he lacks now in strength he makes up for with his speed.”

“He’s a coach on the court that pays attention to details and he’s mature beyond his years,” Pratt continued. “It’s funny looking back because a few years ago, none of the top AAU teams wanted him. That never stopped him from working to improve. He’s going to have a great senior season and he’s going to be really good when he gets to Kentucky next year.”

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Basketball helped Jarrett Lewis put his life on-track, preparing him to be a positive influence on his son

Lewis’ parents poured their love and passion into their only son, albeit from polar opposite ends of the spectrum.

Jarrett Lewis, Acaden’s dad, endured a rough upbringing on the west side of Detroit, with parents that struggled through addiction issues and incarceration. He was raised by a loving aunt and his guardian angel, his grandfather, Robert James Lewis.

“My grandfather worked on the assembly at the Ford Motor plant, but he was also an entrepreneur with numerous side hustles,” said Jarrett. “He’d go to Louisville to buy baseball bats in bulk and sell them outside of Tiger Stadium, or he’d ride to Chicago to pick up alcohol, which was much cheaper, and bring it back to sell in Detroit. He was one of the first African-Americans to own commercial property and residential apartment buildings in the state of Illinois. We had such a strong bond and I loved spending time with him, listening to his stories and soaking in his wisdom.”

Jarrett had been expelled from Detroit public and Catholic schools because of his propensity for fighting, but he showed flashes of being a bright student when he applied himself. That led to the elite academic private school, Detroit Country Day taking a chance and offering him a spot in their eighth grade class.

“I was intelligent, but had behavioral issues and needed structure and discipline,” said Jarrett. “Detroit Country Day provided that for me, especially when I fell in love with basketball.”

Jarrett would attend tutoring sessions at the Headmaster’s house, where Jenny Hanson, the head of school’s wife proved to be a nurturing soul that cared about him and his development. She’d have lunch prepared for him upon his arrival. An English teacher told him that he had the potential to be an exceptional student, something no educator had ever told him before.

And yet, his previous habits were hard to break. Sensing some animosity from classmates and staff, he was purposely rude and disrespectful to some because he felt like they didn’t want him there. He’d isolate himself in the dining hall, with most steering clear of him, except for one individual.

“This one white kid in my class would always come and sit with me, and I tried  everything to get him to leave me alone,” said Jarrett. “But he was persistent. He told me, ‘Hey buddy, you’re stuck with me.’ He helped me to break down those barriers that I’d constructed and he helped me to become a better communicator. He advocated for me, telling the other kids, ‘Hey, give Jarrett a chance, he really is a good kid and all of this is new to him.”

But towards the end of his eighth grade year, his grandfather, who was paying his formidable tuition bill, passed away. He told Mrs. Hanson, his warm and welcoming tutor, that he wouldn’t be coming back to Country Day for high school because his family would not be able to afford it now that his grandfather was gone.

Jarrett Lewis (right), Acaden Lewis' dad, had a major influence over his son's basketball career, but only after he put his life in order as member of Detroit Country Day's varsity basketball team. He played with future Duke and NBA star Shane Battier and David Webber, the younger brother of Michigan and NBA legend Chris Webber. / Photo Courtesy of Jarrett Lewis

“Don’t worry about that,” he was told.

The financial aid office soon reached out and he was awarded a full scholarship.

“That was a life-altering experience for me,” said Jarrett.

The other life-altering experience was being exposed to the Country Day basketball program, one of the best in the country that had recently graduated the National Player of the Year, Chris Webber, who’d go on to stardom at the University of Michigan and in the NBA.

Webber’s younger brother David was Jarrett’s classmate and the two quickly became best friends through their mutual love of the game.

“Jarrett was such a hard worker and we’d workout and train together,” said Webber. “He was the consummate team guy and role player that pushed everybody with an unselfish agenda. He never allowed anyone to take it easy. He lived with my family once during an entire summer and my parents loved him.”

Jarrett made the varsity as a sophomore and was a member of three consecutive state championship teams. As a tenth grader, he was enamored with his senior teammate Shane Battier, who would go on to appear in two Finals Fours at Duke, winning the National Championship with the Blue Devils in 2001. 

Battier earned consensus First Team All-American honors that year, in addition to being named the National Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding Player of the 2001 Final Four.

“Watching Shane, I’d never seen that level of commitment and I became obsessed with the process of improvement,” said Jarrett. “I idolized Shane and the other upperclassmen that were being recruited. I was like their little puppy, following them everywhere. Do you know what it’s like to see Coach K and Roy Williams in your gym watching your high school games?”

“Shane was the most structured student and athlete that I’d ever been around,” Jarrett continued. “His work ethic, in and out of the classroom was extraordinary. I loved working out with him and the older guys during the summers. My talent level wasn’t anywhere near theirs, but I embraced my role on the team as a utility guy that brought passion to every practice session.”

That role continued at Wheaton College, a Division III school in Massachusetts, where Jarrett is still among the Lyons all-time leaders in three-pointers made and assists.

After graduating, he began working in Finance in New York City. The job required constant travel to Washington, DC. One night in the nation’s capital, he popped into a popular nightclub for some drinks after a productive work day. 

That’s when he met a stunning, attractive bartender that would add to his world in ways that he couldn’t begin to imagine at the time.

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Acaden Lewis' mom Nateya built a career while helping her son grow into the man and basketball player he is today

Nateya Pompeo, Acaden’s mom, was born in New York City and raised on Long Island and in Brooklyn. As a young teen, her family relocated to the rural town of Newmarket, Virginia.

“Coming from New York, that was a huge adjustment for me, living in the sticks where people in the town tipped cows for fun,” Pompeo said.

Determined to strike out on her own after high school, with dreams of doing big things, she moved into her own place at the age of 18 and stayed afloat working part-time jobs at James Madison University, waitressing and winning bathing suit and modeling competitions. 

Moving back in with her parents, in her mind, was never an option. She stayed afloat with a driven, hustler's mentality while always keeping an eye towards the future.

Pompeo also took some part-time classes at James Madison and at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. One weekend, while visiting a friend who was living in DC, she checked out various locales and liked the vibe she got while exploring Baltimore’s Fells Point neighborhood.

At the age of 23, she took a job styling models for an agency in Baltimore that put on fashion shows and moved to Fells Point. 

“After about eight months, the agency closed down,” said Pompeo. “I loved being in Fells Point and really enjoyed the area’s nightlife. My rent wasn’t cheap and I had to do something while figuring out my next steps. That's when I decided to do some bartending and got a gig at Power Plant near the harbor.”

Shortly thereafter, she was also picking up shifts at the hottest bars and clubs in DC like LUV, Dream, Platinum, H2O and Abiza, among others. 

She established a dedicated clientele that followed her from spot to spot and quickly became one of the most popular bartenders in the city. 

During one of her shifts, she had a customer who said he was in town from time to time for work. He was talkative, but respectful, smart, ambitious and kind. He had a warm, welcoming smile. He was from Detroit, a little rough around the edges but the instant attraction was mutual.

“That was when I met Acaden’s dad,” said Pompeo. “We began seeing one another and shortly thereafter, I got pregnant. That’s when everything changed.”

The couple stayed together for two years after Acaden was born, ultimately deciding that their relationship, grounded in love, friendship and mutual respect, would serve both of them better as co-parents as opposed to plunging into the uncertain waters of marriage. 

Pompeo had to reconfigure her life once again, thinking about how she could free up as much time as possible to be present during her young son’s formative years, while also making enough money to pay the bills.

“I was making four figures a night as a bartender but I couldn’t do that full time while raising my son and being available to him in the ways that I wanted to be,” she said. “I loved music and my father had once been a DJ. I knew I could add something musically and artistically to the local scene. So I decided to start spinning music.”

The transition was tough. Starting from the bottom, she was forced to dig into her savings for the first time. And despite her relationships with the top club promoters in the area, who she could have leaned on for some prime gigs at some of the hottest spots, she eschewed that route.

“I wanted to earn my way,” Pompeo said. “I didn’t want to be seen as the DJ that got really good gigs because of my looks and because I knew the most successful promoters in DC. So I started out in dive bars, perfecting my craft.”

Acaden Lewis and his mom Nateya Pompeo has been the young stars biggest fans and most ardent supporters. She is also one of the most sought after DJ artists in the country under her stage name DJ Farrah Flosscett. / Photo Courtesy of the Lewis Family.

It didn’t take long for word to spread about how the arresting beauty could absolutely light a dance floor on fire. And with a new moniker as DJ Farrah Flosscett, she became one of the most sought after turntable artists in DC. 

Now, she’s a national brand, with gigs and residencies spread throughout the country.

In young Acaden, she found an unlikely muse. The two would attend plays, musicals and art pop-up installations together. She compiled a list of classic movies that they watched with one another, with him pausing the films at various junctures to ask questions.

A young Acaden Lewis and his mom Nateya Pompeo. / Photo Courtesy of The Lewis Family.

When queried as to what his favorite movies are, his answers are somewhat shocking for a high school senior. 

“He Got Game by Spike Lee and A Bronx Tale are my favorites,” says Acaden, his words dropping in measured tones, sounding like an older person hailing from a previous generation.

“Today, he’s Mr. Cool, mellow, but when he was younger Acaden was a little jokester,” said Pompeo. “He’d be laughing, dancing around the house and was just this awesome bundle of light. He was silly, goofy. Despite how measured and quiet he is now, he still has those qualities deep down in his soul.”

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Acaden Lewis caught the basketball bug early, but it took years of hard work to earn his place in the game

Lewis caught the basketball bug while watching games on the couch with his dad and sitting in gymnasium bleachers as Jarrett trained local high school players during evenings and weekends. 

“He’d shoot around a little bit from time to time but showed no real interest until one day, when he was in the fourth grade, he told me, ‘Hey Dad, I want to play basketball,” said Jarrett. 

“Basketball drew me in because of the constant excitement,” said Lewis. “You can make an impact on every play on both offense and defense. When I first started playing, I wasn’t very good but it was a lot of fun.”

He first began playing under the whistle at DC’s Trinidad Recreation Center, which was within walking distance from his house.

“He was terrible,” said Jarrett. “He had no balance, no footwork, couldn’t shoot and didn’t have any real understanding of the game. But what he did have, from having played travel team soccer for a few years, was stamina. That boy could run all day long.”

Sitting in Jarrett’s gray Jeep Cherokee after one winter rec league game where he surprised everyone in the gym by hitting three consecutive long-range jumpers in the fourth quarter of a championship game, Acaden looked at his dad and said, “I wanna play AAU.”

“You have to understand that in DC, the fourth grade kids on the top AAU squads are phenomenal and they already have reputations that stretch across the city in the basketball community,” said Jarrett. “I knew he wasn’t ready to play for those teams so we started working on his fundamentals.”

“I let him try out for one of the top teams, knowing that he wasn’t ready,” Jarrett continued. “And he was overwhelmed by the talent level of the other kids. But he hustled all over the court, diving for loose balls and blocking shots.”

The coach liked his energy level and extended an invitation to practice with the team to help him develop, but warned that Acaden would not be able to play when the team traveled.

Which was fine by Jarrett. But Acaden insisted that he wanted to travel with the team and be with his friends.

“You can go,” Jarrett told him, “but I need you to understand that you’re not going to play.”

The next year, at Acaden’s insistence, Jarrett agreed to ramp up his training. But he warned his son that it might not be a pleasant experience, because he only knew one speed.

“Observing the top AAU kids, I saw how talented they were, but I also saw how deficient they were when it came to the basic fundamentals,” said Jarrett.

Acaden Lewis went from a mid-level prospect to a blue chipper during his time with Team Durant, where was coached by Wayne Pratt, the father of NBA superstar Kevin Durant, over the last few summers. / Photo Courtesy of the Lewis Family

So they went to work doing arduous drills that stressed chest passes, bounce passes, dribbling with both hands simultaneously. making left and right-handed layups and running until near exhaustion before segueing into shooting drills, so Acaden could get accustomed to launching shots while tired. 

Jarrett coached his AAU squads for a few years that were composed of lesser talented kids, with the sole purpose of getting him some game experience and confidence.

Over the ensuing years, Acaden tried out for and was cut by all of the big time AAU programs like Team Durant, Team Loaded and Team Takeover. But that actually pleased Jarrett because he wanted the embers of his son’s competitiveness to be forged through the fire of failure. 

“I wanted him to fail more than I wanted him to succeed at an early age,” said Jarrett. “I wanted him to develop thick skin. And as hard as I pushed him, as much as I criticized him, as much as I harped on how terrible he played after bad games, he kept coming back, determined to work harder.”

Jarrett was training some of the top kids in the area on the weekends and he’d insert Acaden into those workouts, letting him get humbled by much superior competition. 

“I put him in the shark tank and he got eaten alive,” Jarrett said. “He got his butt kicked, but he was resilient and I never had to push him to run hills, to run two miles, to be ready to go for 6:00am strength and conditioning workouts. He was resilient.”

“My dad was super tough on me from day one,” said Lewis. “He’d harp on the fact that I was too chill, that I didn’t exhibit a killer instinct. Every day, after every practice and game, he was critical of what I did wrong after telling me what I did well. I never took it personal and learned not to take the criticism too seriously. And that served me well as I began to get older and better.”

His game soon began to blossom. It was apparent that he was getting better. The summer prior to his eighth grade year, he tried out for Team Melo in Baltimore and made the squad. Yet, he was buried on the bench and when he did get a chance to play, the results were not very encouraging.

“I knew that he’d one day catch up to those players who were more advanced than him at an early age,” said Jarrett. “And I knew that he had the potential to one day develop into a major college point guard. But his mental toughness wasn’t there yet. After one really bad game, where he subbed himself out at a critical fourth quarter juncture, I was furious. On the ride home, I lit into him, asking, ‘How bad do you want this?’”

Acaden rode home in silence, but Jarrett got the answer he was looking for the next morning, when he went to his son’s room at 6:00am to wake him for school. He wasn’t there. 

The bed was made. He looked out of the window and saw Acaden on the nearby Trinidad Recreation Center’s football field, behind their house, running sprints.

Jarrett eventually enlisted others to help his son train so that he wasn’t the only voice in his ear, including Kevin Kyteyi, who’s known in DC hoops circles as Uncle Skoob. 

“I first started working with Acaden when he was about 13 or 14 years old, “ said Kyteyi. “He could use both hands very well and he picked up on drills pretty fast. We focused on making the proper reads through physical contact and double teams. His parents raised him well, his character is tight and he moves positively with integrity.”

“I wasn’t surprised when he blew up over this past summer because he had the skill level and the willingness to get better every day,” Kyteyi continued. “I could see that he had it when we first met. His dad put him through so much fire while developing him at an early age. And Acaden didn’t sulk, he embraced the criticism and always came back and worked harder. He really wanted it. I knew it was only a matter of time before everything clicked.”

But not everyone was convinced, early on, that Jarrett’s approach was the best.

“His dad was extremely tough on him and sometimes it felt personal,” said Pompeo. “At times, it didn’t feel good to me but I knew how much he loved his son and just had to trust that there was a method to his approach. I was the teddy bear parent and my son could do no wrong in my eyes. So we balanced each other out. And I understood that in order for Acaden to reach for his dreams in basketball, he’d have to get tougher.”

Pompeo would remind Jarrett that Acaden didn’t grow up like he did, impoverished and with his family struggles in Detroit. Jarrett would harp on the fact that Acaden didn’t have that edge, but she’d remind him that Acaden was an only child with two loving parents who never wanted for anything.

“But Jarrett had a plan and I understood his point,” Pompeo said. “Acaden was too chill. I was worried that he might not find that necessary toughness to be able to compete at the highest levels. Jarrett knew it was coming and he’d say, ‘When it’s gonna come, it’s gonna come. And it’s definitely gonna come.’”

This past summer, it came in abundance.

“In middle school and up through tenth grade, I’d have a couple of good games and then I’d crash and burn,” said Lewis. “This past year is when I figured out how to maintain a consistent approach and not crash.”

“Whatever he found and summoned up from inside of him, to watch it happen was surreal,” Pompeo said. “When I saw it emerge, I was like, ‘Holy shit!’”

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During his senior season at Sidwell Friends, Acaden Lewis will continue his preparations for the University of Kentucky

As his senior season gets underway, Lewis feels poised to take his game to an even higher level before matriculating at Kentucky. His high school coach is equally impressed with his growth outside of the gymnasium.

“Acaden is a very good student and he takes that part of the equation seriously,” said Eric Singletary, the accomplished head coach at Sidwell Friends, an academically elite private school that’s known to send its students off to the Ivy League.  Singletary inherited a moribund program and has built it into a nationally ranked powerhouse over the years. “He’s grown as a leader within our school community and he enjoys celebrating the success of others. I watched him from afar when he was in middle school and he’s still as courteous, kind and observant today.”

“On the court, he’s a really dynamic player but he’s also very thoughtful in how he sees the game,” Singletary continued. “Those two things aren’t congruent. He’s a judicious, exciting playmaker, an elite scorer that’s fun to watch. At the next level, with more spacing and equally talented players around him, his passing and creativity will stand out. He’ll be challenged, as are all college freshmen that play at places like Kentucky. But he has thick skin and bounces back from failure really well. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s ready to handle whatever comes his way.”

Others who’ve watched him grow through failure over the years have similar feelings.

Acaden Lewis dribbles up court during the 2023-24 DCSAA Class AA state championship game. He has one season left with the Quakers before heading to the University of Kentucky. / Photo Courtesy of The Lewis Family

“Acaden never gets too high or too low,” said his dad’s high school teammate and best friend David Webber, with whom the prep phenom communicates frequently about his mental health and maintaining a positive approach as the spotlight continues to grow bigger. “He has a maturity beyond his years and underneath that calm he’s got a grown man’s game. He always makes the right play, he’s great around the basket with an ambidextrous layup package that’s reminiscent of Rod Strickland and Kyrie Irving. And he doesn’t hog the ball, he’s great at giving it up when the flow of a play dictates it. I believe he has the mental and physical makeup to be an NBA All-Star one day.”

Lewis likes being exciting and eliciting “oooh’s” and “aaah’s” from the crowd, but he’s more concerned with being efficient. 

“I loved watching exciting playmakers like John Wall, Brandon Jennings and Jamaal Crawford when I was younger,” said Lewis. “It’s about being solid fundamentally while also having a diverse skill set and being creative. Right now, I’m watching and studying guys like Jalen Brunson, De’Aaron Fox, Luka and Rob Dillingham.”

But life and his future goals are not strictly related to what he does on the court. 

“Community is very important to me,” said Lewis. “I want to inspire people because your legacy can’t be cemented simply by what you do as a basketball player. My parents always had me doing community service work. I’ll always want to interact with and inspire young people. Giving back, being a good person and doing things to elevate others is what it’s all about.”

But in the immediate future, the sport that he loves will place him on a bigger stage.

Among the most excited at Lewis’ trajectory is Kentucky Head Coach Mark Pope, who was effusive at a Lexington press conference after Acaden committed to the Wildcats on November 2nd.

“Acaden Lewis is a floor general supreme,” said Pope. “He’s a lockdown defender and a locker room leader…He’s a playmaking point guard, his vision is elite, he’s wildly skilled and can get wherever he wants to on the floor. He’s got a toughness to him and a balance and an even-keeled nature about himself that’s special. I just think he’s a beautiful kid.”