Everyone remembers Lewis for his role on the iconic television series, yet very few remember him for his career as a basketball recruiter. After his role on The Munsters Lewis turned his attention to his true passion, basketball, and used his keen knack for spotting talent to connect young players to a college basketball program that fit their skills.
In 1980 coach Gary Colson left Pepperdine to help rebuild a scandal ridden program at the University of New Mexico. Colson was very familiar with Lewis and his talents and new that he could find the players he needed to turn the Lobo program around.
And as it turned out he did just that.
Here is an excerpt from a 1985 Sports Illustrated article on Lewis:
Lewis is best known as a former denizen of 1313 Mockingbird Lane, home of that madcap assemblage of Halloween characters, the Munsters, from the mid-'60s sitcom of the same name. He played the loony Grandpa, a loud, lovable Dracula look-alike. After The Munsters ended in 1966, Lewis continued acting—in summer stock, dinner theater and vaudeville revues. But wherever he happens to be, he always has time for basketball. For more than 30 years Lewis has been connecting talented high school players with colleges in need of talent. He is quick to point out that he doesn't actually recruit, since only certain college officials are allowed to do so. He prefers to describe himself as "a bird dog—I flush out the kids." That involves a nonstop schedule of beating the bushes all over the country—at his own expense.
His knowledge and devotion have made him an authentic expert on the high school game. And having a Ph.D. in child psychology from Columbia evidently hasn't hurt. "Mostly," he says, "the college coaches call me. 'I need a big forward,' they'll say. I know what that coach likes, and I know the quality of his division." Gary Colson, head coach at New Mexico, describes Lewis as "a wise old fox who tries to do the best he can for the kids." He remembers Lewis as one of the few people willing to help him after he took over the scandal-ridden Lobo basketball program in 1980.
Former Lobo player Hunter Greene wrote this for The Albuquerque Journal recently:
But to Hunter Greene, a former Lobo and current Albuquerque businessman, Lewis was an early mentor and a “strong, strong influence.”
“His son, Ted Lewis, was my best friend,” Greene says. “Al Lewis was my mentor on basketball and life. I was working at the park (in Los Angeles), playing pickup ball, and he showed me that I could get a scholarship – I could change my life.”
Greene, 53, played for the Lobos from 1983 to 1988 – the eighth all-time leading scorer who was part of the team rebuilding effort after the Lobogate scandal – and has since developed a successful real estate career. He is now a senior adviser at SVN/Walt Arnold Commercial Brokerage Inc. in Albuquerque, and owns other businesses, including the South Valley Care Center, a skilled-nursing facility.
The work of Colson and Lewis help build a college basketball powerhouse in Albuquerque that almost knocked off the top ranked Georgetown Hoyas lead by future NBA superstar Patrick Ewing in 1984.
Again it is funny how we remember things. I thought the Lobos won that game.
The Lobos did however knock off the number one ranked Arizona Wildcats in 1988.
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