Alabama basketball's Kira Lewis Jr wins FIBA U19 World Cup with Team USA

Kira Lewis Jr. is now a world champion. The Alabama point guard was a part of Team USA’s FIBA U19 World Cup squad which beat Mali 93-79 in Sunday’s championship game.

Lewis registered an assist over 2:25 during Sunday’s final. He averaged 4.0 points, 1.6 assists and 1.1 rebounds during the United States’ perfect seven-game run which included two wins over Lithuania and a win apiece against New Zealand, Senegal, Latvia, Russia and Mali.

Lewis earned SEC All-Freshman honors last season, leading Alabama with 13.5 points, 2.9 assists and 31.6 minutes per game. He also topped the Crimson Tide in free-throw percentage (78.3) double-figure scoring games (24) and 20-point games (5). Lewis turned 18 in April and was the second-youngest player in Division I last season. He was originally a member of the 2019 class but reclassified to play for Alabama last season.

With Lewis’ international duties complete, he will rejoin Alabama for his sophomore year as the Crimson Tide sets out for its first season under head coach Nate Oats this fall.

"It’s great that Kira Lewis is playing on the USA U19 Team," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said last month. "I think that will give him some great experience. He’s one of the better point guards in the country, so it’s nice to walk in your first year and have a really talented point guard, especially with the way that we play and how fast we play, and he’s one of the better transition point guards in the country. So, he’s good. We’ve got talent to go around him."