Bennie Lewis graduated from Lincoln High School in East St. Louis, IL. His many academic honors include membership in the National Honor Society and Who’s Who Among High School Students of America. He also earned All-City, All-Metro and All American honors in basketball.
After graduating from Southern Illinois University – Edwardsville with a degree in education Mr. Lewis competed professionally in Australia for 10 years. When he retired he was ranked on the NBL all-time list for scoring, assists, and steals and was honored in Australia’s 50 Greatest Player Club. His many awards included Team MVP, League Runner-Up MVP, and NBL All-Star.
Bennie continued his career in Australia as a coach and administrator for men and women professional teams, youth development programs and he was the Special Training Coach for the Australian Wheel Chair Olympic Team. Bennie was inducted into the Coburg Basketball Association Hall of Fame (Melbourne, Australia) Class of 2018.
Mr. Lewis returned to the United States and for three years served as Coordinator of Promotions & Marketing for Athletics at Indiana University – Purdue University Ft. Wayne. He also served as Assistant Executive Director/Resource Development Director of the Boys and Girls Club of Ft. Wayne, Indiana. He then worked for 17 years for Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation. Among his many duties and accomplishments while with the parks district, he was the lead advisor for the $6 million conversion project turning the McMillen Ice Arena into the McMillen Community Center and his teams won two AAU national championships and were runners up twice. Many of the youth participants in the programs run by Mr. Lewis have gone on to college, to play overseas and even NBA careers.
Since 2014, Mr Lewis has served as Owner/GM of the Fort Wayne Flite of the Central Basketball Association with 6 Final Four Appearances, advancing to the Finals 5 times with 3 Championships. In 2016, Bennie founded Flite Basketball Consulting and serves as the Head Consultant and Adviser. He has worked with NBA Combines, NBA G-League, Jr NBA, Windy City Bulls, Ft Wayne Mad Ants, The Basketball Tournament, The Midwest Professional Basketball Association, and The Basketball League.
