Houston, TX – The Guy V. Lewis Award Committee (GVLAC) announced this evening the winner of the 2021 Guy V. Lewis Award for the Greater Houston Area Boys Basketball Player of the Year, Ramon Walker, of Shadow Creek High School. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the GVLAC announced the winner online for the second consecutive year.
This season, Walker averaged 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists per game and helped lead the Sharks to a 23-3 record.
The Guy V. Lewis Award is given annually to the Boys High School Player of the Year in the Greater Houston area. The finalists for the 2021 Guy V Lewis Award were, in alphabetical order, Sam Bradford (Goose Creek Memorial HS); Gaston Elie (Memorial HS); Bryce Griggs (Hightower HS); PJ Haggerty (Crosby HS); Ronald Holmes (Northside HS); Chuks Isitua (Jack Yates); RJ Keene (Concordia Lutheran HS); Noah Kon (Houston Christian HS); DJ Richards (Cy Creek HS); Ramon Walker (Shadow Creek HS); and Shaun Walker (Manvel HS).
This is the tenth year of this unique award. The inaugural award in 2012 was won by Rasheed Sulaimon of Strake Jesuit (Duke). The additional winners were Aaron Harrison, Travis HS (Kentucky) in 2013; Justise Winslow, St. John’s (Duke) in 2014; Galen Robinson Jr., Westbury Christian School (Houston) in 2015; De’Aaron Fox, Cy Lakes HS (Kentucky) in 2016; Nigel Hawkins, Cy Falls HS (UTEP) in 2017; Quentin Grimes, College Park (Kansas / Houston) in 2018; and Kharee “KJ” McDaniel, Klein Forest HS (Stephen F. Austin) in 2019; and Tramon Mark, Dickinson HS (Houston) last year.
The Award is in honor of College Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Guy V. Lewis (1922-2015), who led the University of Houston program from 1956-1986. An alumnus of the University of Houston, Guy V. Lewis led the Cougars to five Final Fours, won nearly 600 games and was a pioneer for the game. One of Lewis’ finest ideas, the 1968 “Game of the Century” pitted his Houston Cougars, with All American Elvin Hayes, against the powerhouse from UCLA, with Lew Alcindor, in the Astrodome in front of a national television audience and a regular season attendance record of more than 52,000 fans. That attendance number still stands as the fourth largest regular season NCAA game.
“Guy V. Lewis had a keen eye for the local talent in the Houston area and was integral in making Houston the new hotbed for recruiting in the country,” said GVLAC Chair Rob Lopez. “Coach Lewis revolutionized the game and the way it was perceived in the country and he really put the spotlight on Houston. And now with Coach taking his rightful place in the Basketball Hall of Fame, this year’s award has even more of a spotlight.”
A “Watch List” of 25 players was announced in February. Eleven Finalists were announced in early March. Typically, the announcement of the Guy V. Lewis Award occurs during Final Four week, a fitting spot for the award, considering that only eight coaches ever took their teams to more Final Fours than Lewis.
The Guy V. Lewis Award Committee is an organization whose mission is the promotion of the game of basketball at all levels in the greater Houston area. That area is defined by Harris County and every Texas County that is immediately adjacent to Harris County. The Board of Directors of GVLAC is comprised of 13 members with an Executive Committee of five members. The website, GuyVLewisAward.org, is the official website to find more information about the Guy V. Lewis Award Committee.
“We are very excited to have the cooperation and input from the Houston Area Basketball Coaches Association, our partnership with VYPE Magazine, our great sponsor, committee and the local media give our award the credibility it needs,” Lopez added. “The GVLAC always feels like the best high school basketball in the country is right here in the Houston area. And by honoring Coach Lewis every time we give it out, we feel like we are carrying on the tradition of recognizing great Houston talent like he did when he was coaching.”
Inquiries and information for GVLAC can be found at info@guyvlewisaward.org