Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, the Great Lakes Valley Conference will celebrate its 40th anniversary by recognizing 40 teams that made a significant impact both on campus and at the Conference level. This week’s featured team is the 1982 Lewis men’s basketball squad.
40 TEAMS | 40 YEARS
WEEK 24: 1982 Lewis Men’s Basketball
SEASON SUMMARY
The 1981-82 Lewis men’s basketball team made an immediate impact in its first year as a member of the GLVC by winning the league title with a 10-2 mark. The Flyers would finish the season 20-9 overall, picking up victories in 16 of their last 19 regular season games to advance to their first-ever NCAA Tournament. Lewis also earned its first-ever national ranking late in the 1981-82 season as the Flyers were No. 20 in the Feb. 24 poll and finished 17
th in the season’s final poll on March 2. Larry Tucker spent his final two seasons on campus as a GLVC student-athlete, garnering the league’s Player of the Year award in 1981-82 after leading the Flyers with a 20.6 scoring average. He would also earn first-team All-GLVC accolades in 1982 and 1983. Tucker was joined in double figures by Ron Lesiak, who averaged 18.5 points per game, while Kirk Vuscko dropped in 10.5 points per contest. Tucker also led the team in rebounding with 7.6 per contest while Kevin Whittler averaged 4.8 assists per game. At season’s end, Chuck Schwarz earned his first of three GLVC Coach of the Year honors.
IMPRESSIVE INDIVIDUALS
Larry Tucker
- GLVC Player of the Year (1982)
- All-GLVC First Team (1982, 1983)
- All-GLVC Second Team (2010)
- American Basketball Coaches All-America (1983)
- Drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers following collegiate career
- School’s all-time leading scorer with 2,120 career points (1979-83)
- Owns school record for career field goals made (841)
- Averaged school-record 20.3 points per game and 67.8 field goal percentage
- Set school record for points scored (608) in 1982-83
- Only player to have his jersey retired by the Flyers
- Inducted into the Lewis Hall of Fame in 1988
- Inaugural male recipient of the GLVC Dr. Charles Bertram Alumni of Distinction Award in 2001
- Inducted into the GLVC Hall of Fame in 2010
Ron Lesiak
- All-GLVC Second Team (1982, 1983)
- All-GLVC First Team (1984)
- Fourth in school history with 1,753 career points (1980-84)
- Second in school history with 284 single-season rebounds (1981-82)
- Notched school’s single-season record with 256 field goals made (1982-83)
- Fifth in school history with 9.79 rebounding average (1981-82)
- Inducted into the Lewis Hall of Fame in 1989
Kevin Whittler
- All-GLVC Second Team (1982, 1983)
- Sixth in school history with 139 single-season assists (1981-82)
- Second in school history in career assist average (4.5)
- Fourth in school history with 339 career assists
- Ranked second in school history with 66 steals in 1982-83
Chuck Schwarz
- GLVC Coach of the Year (1982, 1985, 1986)
- Became Lewis head coach in 1978 and guided the program during its transition to NCAA Division II and the GLVC
- Teams won 20 or more games and advanced to the NCAA Tournament five straight seasons and won three GLVC titles
LASTING LEGACY
The 1981-82 Lewis men’s basketball program secured the school’s first GLVC Championship in any sport, while advancing to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance as well. The 1981-82 campaign began a stretch where the Flyers made the NCAA Tournament five straight seasons and six times in seven years. Larry Tucker helped the Flyers make the transition to NCAA Division II in 1980, and eventually the GLVC in 1981-82, putting up Hall of Fame numbers along the way. He led the Flyers to 66 wins in four years and finished his career as the school’s all-time scoring leader with 2,120 points. Regarded as the greatest player to ever wear a Lewis men’s basketball jersey, which in fact led to his jersey being the only number retired in program history, Tucker was also recognized multiple times for his two years playing in the GLVC. He earned GLVC Player of the Year honors in 1981-82, was the inaugural male recipient of the GLVC Dr. Charles Bertram Alumni of Distinction Award in 2001, and inducted into the GLVC Hall of Fame in 2010. Since its successful inaugural season in the GLVC, the Flyers have gone on to win five additional GLVC Championships, including 1985, 1986, 1988, 2002 and 2016. The program’s six league crowns rank third overall in GLVC history.