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In the aftermath of UA’s season-ending loss to Duke last Thursday, some of his teammates could do the same: Fellow UA perimeter players Jaden Bradley, Anthony Dell’Orso and Conrad Martinez were all noncommittal about their plans for next season while UA big men Henri Veeesar and Tobe Awaka each have unique skills that could make them eminently marketable in the portal.

(And all that is on top of the decision freshman Carter Bryant has to make about whether to enter or at least test the NBA Draft.)

“I haven’t given it any thought at all,â€� Awaka said when asked after the Duke game if he wanted to return to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, and Lewis said pretty much the same thing.

“I don’t know. I don’t know yet,� Lewis said. “Obviously have to talk to the family and the coaches, and figure it out.�

Quoting sources, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reported Sunday that Lewis would enter the transfer portal, and while Lewis did not confirm it directly on social media, Lewis retweeted a post that said “time for a fresh start� in reference to Borzello’s post.

Lewis already tested the NBA Draft after his freshman season of 2023-24, when he averaged 6.1 points and 3.1 rebounds while shooting 46.6% and becoming one of the Wildcats’ top defenders.

Because of his defense, athleticism and offensive potential, Lewis had appeared on some NBA mock draft boards as a freshman, and he was invited after the season to the G League Elite Camp, a second-tier pre-draft camp held before the NBA Combine.

But Lewis turned down the invitation and announced two weeks before the college withdrawal deadline that he would return to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ for his sophomore season in 2024-25, when he was expected to move into the starting lineup.

Lewis finished with the third-most playing time among the Wildcats this season, averaging 25.8 minutes a game while again playing a significant defensive role, but moved back to the bench after six games as a starter and struggled to shoot from the perimeter.

UA coach Tommy Lloyd first removed Lewis from the starting lineup in the Wildcats’ final of three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis over Thanksgiving week, after Lewis had picked up his second technical foul in three games.

But Lloyd said Lewis opted to stay on the bench upon UA’s return home from the, and the move became permanent. Bryant started three December games at the small forward spot Lewis vacated, while Dell’Orso started there for the UA’s final 28 games.

“KJ came to me the past couple days and asked if I would be open to him not starting,� Lloyd said after UA beat Southern Utah on Dec. 7. “He just felt like maybe it would give other guys some opportunities to get some confidence and kind of put him in a role similar to what Pelle (Larsson) played a few years ago for us.�

Lewis wound up averaging 10.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists as a sophomore this season, finishing on a generally strong note despite playing with an unspecified injury to his right wrist he suffered on Feb. 4 at BYU.

“It was probably an up-and-down year,� Lewis said after the Wildcats’ season-ending loss to Duke on Thursday. “It was just a lot of loss of confidence in the middle of the year, the wrist injury, and a bunch of things going on.�

Lewis had a season-high 21 points both at West Virginia on Jan. 7 and, after the injury, against ASU at McKale on March 4. Then, after scoring just three points on 1-for-8 shooting at Kansas on March 8, Lewis averaged 13.4 points over his next five games, including a 19-point effort in a rematch game against Kansas on March 13 in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals.

“I think he’s a better shooter than his numbers have shown,� Lloyd said before the Big 12 Tournament. “I think he’s shown me that in practice and last year … that being said, he impacts the games in a lot of ways. So we’re gonna keep hanging with it.�

Lewis said after the second Kansas game that he knew the wrist wouldn’t get better until he had more time to rest it after the season, and confirmed as much after the Duke game. He had said he wasn’t sure exactly what the injury was, only that it involved a ligament.

“It won’t heal until, I mean, now because the season’s over,� Lewis said after the Duke game. “With days off, or a week, or month, it will get better.�

The first scholarship player for ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ with ties to ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ since Talbot Denny joined the Wildcats in 2016, Lewis now will have time both to rest the wrist and sort through his future options as the transfer portal continues to heat up this spring.