Sammie Lewis knew what type of basketball program and school district he was joining last April before he was ever a candidate for the school’s boys basketball coach. A Jonesboro native, Lewis had visited Marion countless times as a basketball player under legendary Arkansas high school coach Wes Swift at Jonesboro High School. Eleven months, 26 victories, and Marion’s first state semifinal berth in three years, it turns out there was one surprise left for Lewis and Marion. The 5A East’s Outstanding Coach of the Year award. In his first season as a head coach at the high school varsity level, Lewis quickly molded his 2024-2025 team, leading the Patriots to a 26-7 final record, an outright 5A East conference championship, and an appearance in the semifinals. “I think anything you do in Year One where you come in and establish a new culture, it can be hard,” said Lewis. “I knew we were capable, it was just a matter of doing it, especially with such a young group, but they stepped up to the challenge and beat the expectations.” Lewis became Marion’s third coach in three seasons last spring and while he was able to guide the team through off-season drills, Marion lost a two-time all-state guard over the summer, and another projected senior guard after school had started. The Pats picked up key wins in the non-conference schedule, topping defending Class 6A state champion Little Rock Central in the season-opener, but a loss to Bentonville, sticks out to Lewis. “I felt the Bentonville game was a turning point, even though we lost,” said Lewis. “I can remember the feeling in the locker room. Us coaches felt like they were getting it, even if it didn’t reflect on the scoreboard.” Lewis’s feeling was proven the next night when Marion knocked off Springdale, at the time ranked No. 1 in Class 6A. Marion’s momentum carried it to Highland, Arkansas the week after Christmas, where Marion picked up two wins, including an impressive conquest of Class 6A contender North Little Rock, but in the process, the Patriots lost two-time all-conference performer LaDaryl Robinson, Jr. and he was never able to return to action. Without Robinson, Marion was able to beat highly regarded Texas Storm to earn the 2024 Ronnie Brogdon Bad Boy Mowers Invitational. “That was our third game in three days, we’d lost LD (Robinson), and it’s really tough,” said Lewis. “But they just bad together and found a way to win. An absolute display of tough, selfless, and hard-nosed basketball. After that, I knew we could play with anybody.” But Marion had one more bout with adversity left on its dance card. The Patriots lost two of their first six conference contests in January 2025, both of which they led in the fourth quarter, and following a road defeat at Valley View, Marion was 4-2 and two games behind Nettleton and Valley View in third place of the 5A East title hunt. Rather than pout, Marion circled the wagons, winning its final eight conference games, six of them by double-digits, avenging its loses to Nettleton and Valley View to earn the 5A East crown. The good feelings carried to the state tournament at Greene County Tech, where Marion easily dispatched El Dorado in the tournament’s opening round before slipping Sylvan Hills in the state quarterfinals before losing to eventual state champion Benton in the final four. As impressive as the 2024-2025 season was, more good times could be on the horizon with renewed emphasis on developing and identifying players in the schools at younger ages, and improvement of kids in the program already. “The future is so bright here,” said Lewis. “We are blessed with a group of kids who want to be coached, and they want to win. I’m honored to be in this position to lead these next groups of young men coming through, and I’m excited to see what they’re capable of. I want this place to be a bunch of blue-collar guys, just show up with your hardhat everyday, ready to work.” Marion graduates three senior players, Mikell Lewis, Mykal Knighten, and Rylan Johnson, but four starters are projected to return for the 2025-2026 season, and a talented sophomore group that helped Marion Junior High win this year’s district tournament championship promotes to the high school varsity outfit.