Maurice Courtney Lewis was born August 5, 1948 and attended Kingston College from 1960 to 1967.
He was taught the game of basketball by another stellar KC Old boy, Freddie Green in third form and such was the beginning of service to Kingston College. Young Maurice soon developed his skills as a point guard and a deadly jump shot and aptly nicknamed “Shats”.
For those of us familiar with basketball it is common knowledge that the point guard is the extension of the coach on the court and invariably the team’s leader and most intelligent player. This is so true for Shats who played on KC’s championship teams from 1965-67 and was our inspirational captain and coach in 1966 and 1967.
It is noteworthy that during this time KC did not lose a single game with the likes of Hugh ‘Zulu’ Ingram, Kenneth ‘Bus’ Thomas, Winston Harvey and Warren Chen Shui and additionally KC had two players on the Jamaica National team in 1967 and naturally Maurice was the point guard, the other player was Warren Chen Shui.
It was clear that Maurice Lewis had natural leadership skills that would benefit not only KC but Jamaica. He was instrumental in organizing a local league in the late 1960’s which no doubt laid the groundwork for the development of basketball in Jamaica. Indeed he went on to a distinguished career playing for the Jamaican National team from 1967 to 1975 leading as the captain from 1972 – 1975 and again as player-coach from 1974- 1975.
Maurice service to the KC family continued as he and Winston Harvey re-organized the game at KC in 1971 where he was the coach through 1975. KC did not lose a game until 1974 and won the schoolboy league and knockout titles from 1971 to 1974. It is noteworthy that he was sorely missed for the 1974-75 season as he concentrated on completion of his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and Applied Chemistry at the University of the West Indies. In 1975 he was also the coach of the Jamaican under 19 national team that toured Cuba. At the national level Maurice has also served as Secretary of the Jamaica Amateur Basketball Association from 1979-1980 and as the assistant treasurer from 1990 to 1995.
Maurice’s personality was most enviable as he quietly used basketball to teach valuable life lessons re working hard, playing your role well and having good manners. His tutelage produced Jamaican national players of distinction including Dennis ‘Cranky’ Thompson, Michael Strachan, Hamlin Pagon and Donald Turner. Old boys Professor Rainford Wilks, Dr. Selbourne Goode, Clinton Cunningham, Dr. Michael Clarke, Christopher Skyers, Barrington Campbell, Maurice Brown and I along with many others were also positively influenced by Maurice as he instilled self confidence into all aspects of our daily lives. This is the essence of the KC spirit and no one is more exemplary than Maurice Courtney Lewis.
Maurice in true purple spirit married the lovely Violet in 1980 and they have two children Kareem and Kameika. He’s an active leader in St. Michael’s Anglican Church in Jamaica as he continues to positively shape the lives of young people.
Maurice is a natural leader who has helped to develop what we fondly refer to as Purple Power and for his magnanimous contribution to Kingston College and Jamaica we honor him today.
