Aug. 18, 2006

Former George Mason standout Jai Lewis has agreed to a professional basketball contract and will play for Bosna of the Adriatic Basketball Association. He will be playing in the league's top division and as a forward on the league's most dominant team. Bosna is based in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Lewis signed with Bosna earlier this week and he is expected to have a significant role with the team when the season starts on September 30. He takes the roster spot of Lance Williams who was one of the top 10 scorers and rebounders in the league. According to a release on the team's web site, "Lewis is a similar player to Lance Williams and he will be an ideal replacement."

Bosna was the league champion the past two seasons and has finished with the top regular-season record each of the past three years. The team has been to the league finals three straight years.

Between finishing his playing career in April and signing with Bosna, Lewis took a slight detour to professional football. He signed a free-agent contract with the New York Giants on April 30, the day the NFL Draft concluded. He attended mini-camp with the Giants and worked as an offensive tackle and long snapper. In mid-July, he decided that he no longer wanted to pursue a career in professional football and turned his attention back to basketball.

Lewis concluded his collegiate career as one of Mason's all-time greats. This past season, he was first-team All-District, All-State and All-CAA. He was among the all-time top 10 in school history in points, rebounds, field-goal percentage, steals and blocks. He is one of two players in school history, along with George Evans, to score 1,500 points, grab 850 rebounds, hand-out 150 assists and tally 100 steals.