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Lewis said that at Clinton, everyone did a little of every- thing at the school. A lot of us played athletics, and also participated in the band and other music programs. “Athletics was a big part of growing up in Clinton. We had good sports programs with a lot of good coaches,” William shared. “Clinton was a great place to go to school.” “I was in the band and was a first chair tuba player, and our entire tuba section was comprised of athletes one year. Our band always got straight superior ratings at the state band con- test and went to the national band festival in Enid, Oklahoma, twice and received all superior marks there and one year we got the highest ranking in the country.” His love for bas- ketball and desire to excel drove him to a yearning to be as good as he could be. That would lead him to meet a person who would later have a major part of the path Lewis would take. Between his sophomore and junior year, he was reading The Clarion Ledger newspaper (statewide publication based in Jackson) about the first-ever basketball camp in Mississippi that Coach Bobby Weathers was had just completed at Perkinston Junior College (now the main campus for Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College). Lewis wanted to attend the next summer camp and wrote Coach Weathers for some information which he promptly received. He then had to convince his parents, a few teammates and their parents, and support from their coach, that it would be good for them to attend. His plan came together, and along with a few other players, he caught a Greyhound bus in Clinton and rode it to Perkin- ston. Lewis spent two weeks at the camp, and during that time, he felt Weathers took an interest with him. Lewis, who was a forward at Clinton, stood 6’ 3’’, but Weathers told the young Lewis he needed to develop his skills as a guard if he wanted to play at the next level (college). Lewis came back for the camp again the next summer be- 8 SOUTHERN SENIOR MAGAZINE | Winter 2020-2021 Continued on page 10