Tynesha Lewis is one of the reasons that North Carolina State has a great year. But basketball isn't all that drives her.

Tynesha Lewis exemplifies the term "student-athlete." On the court, she's a dynamo for North Carolina State, grabbing rebounds, scoring points, and dishing out assists. In the classroom, she's even more dedicated, majoring in chemistry in preparation for going on to medical school.

Lewis finished her year averaging 11.0 points per game and led the team in minutes played and steals. She was named to the all-ACC first team in 1999.

Given those numbers, you would expect that Lewis would think that basketball is life, but you could not be more wrong. She is a dedicated student in pursuit of her dream to be a physician. When we had the privilege to speak with her a few weeks back, she shared with us her formula for success in the classroom, her goals for the Wolfpack in 2000, and explained why, despite being courted by Tennessee and Connecticut, she chose to play for Coach Kay Yow.

GBall: What is it like to play for Coach Yow?
Tynesha Lewis: It's like playing for your mom. She cares about us emotionally, psychologically, physically--everything. I know that if I have a problem, I can go talk to her. And she'll do just anything in her power, and probably beyond her power, to help us.

Her faith in God is the most important thing to me. She's a great foundation for anything that we're going through. She tries her best to help us. Even sometimes when we won't help ourselves, she tries to help.

Did you choose to come to N.C. State because of her?
Yes. But NC State has a great science and math program. And then I met Coach Yow, and that was about the end of that.

You're a chemistry major right now. When did you decide that you wanted to be a doctor?
I like working with kids, I was thinking about pediatrics a long time ago. I used to have to go to the doctor all the time and I used to hate it because doctors never seem to relate with the kids. So if I act like a kid, I figure I can relate with them a little better. I just like to help people.

Have you given any thought to whether you want to pursue a pro basketball career?
I've thought about it. I want to go to medical school and I want to play in the WNBA or any overseas league. I'll just have to see what happens: see how my junior and senior years go. We'll find out a little later.

In your freshman year, N.C. State went to the Final Four. You beat Old Dominion and Louisiana Tech. Can you talk about what that experience was like?
That was unbelievable. When I signed with Coach Yow, I called a couple of my teammates that were coming in with me, Monica [Bates] and DeDe [Hutcherson] and I said, "You know, it's time we take Coach Yow out to a Final Four." But, we didn't know that we would actually get there. When we did, the publicity and the media coverage was great.

It's just a whole other atmosphere on that level. We were up there and our names were up there in lights, and maybe 15,000 people came to see us play a basketball game. We don't get that kind of exposure down here. It was exciting.

I'm just grateful to the women who laid down the foundation for me--the older players who are playing in the pro leagues now. I was just extremely overwhelmed.

Do you think it's important for young girls out there to think about some of the pioneers who have gone before them?
Yes, of course. If it wasn't for those people pushing and straining for me, then there wouldn't be an NC State. Rhonda Mapp, Coach Yow, Tennessee Coach Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma, all of those are foundation layers. They laid down the building blocks so we can play the game that we love to play.

What are your goals for this year?
First we want to win the ACC regular season, then the ACC tournament, NCAA 64, 32, 16, 8, 4, 2 and Number One. That's how it goes.

What are your personal goals?
I want to get a 4.0 this semester academically. Basketball-wise I want to make sure that I go out there and play hard every game. I get complacent sometimes and there's no room for me to be complacent. That's my goal.

Do you find that it's hard to combine being a good student and being a basketball player? How do you do it?
I think the most important thing is that you have to want to do it. I think that anybody can be a student, anybody can be an athlete, but you have to want to be a student-athlete. My mama always told me that if I didn't take care of the classroom, I wouldn't have to worry about the court. It was pretty easy to stay in the classroom. Anything can happen that I won't have basketball, but what I have in my head, no one can take away from me.

What is your academic minor?
I'm debating between communications and African-American studies.

What is it that you like about those two different subjects?
I was fascinated by how much I did not know about African-American studies. There's just so much out there and there's a lot that we're not told. Just knowing about the people who helped me to get to where I am, who helped everybody. African-American studies is not just about African-Americans, it's about each and every person who has made a difference in the struggle and in the economy building up the United States. And communications because I love to talk to people. I just love it.

You play alongside two nationally known players in Summer Erb and Kaayla Chones [daughter of Jim Chones, former NBA star with the Cavaliers]. Is it ever a problem that certain teammates get more attention than others?
I don't personally think it's a problem. We haven't addressed that issue because we don't even think of it as an issue. We figure that if Summer or Kaayla get publicity, that all publicity is good publicity, because it's promoting women's basketball. So, if UConn or Tennessee or any other school gets a whole lot of publicity or any individual women's basketball player, it's putting women's basketball on the map.

What advice would you give to high school players who want to play in college?
I would tell them to research each school that they're interested in. Talk to the players. Talk to the coaches. Talk to the academic advisors at the schools because this is one of the biggest decisions that you'll make in your life. You're spending four to five years of your life there and you ought to make sure it's where you want to be. Make sure you'll be comfortable there.

Interview conducted by Gball Assistant Editor Lorraine Berry in January, 2000.