Forgive Cameron Lewis.
He hardly seems like the type to hold a grudge. In fact, draped in a cotton T-shirt and baggy practice shorts before an afternoon shootaround, the Quakers' six-foot-eight, 225-pound big man looks about as innocuous as anyone with the job description "lane-clogger" possibly can.
But on one small point, concerning one small passion, you'll have to let Lewis have his say.
"The DP has slammed me before for not having great hands," Lewis said, grinning playfully. "I have good hands when it comes to art."
Indeed, since his high-school years, Lewis has possessed the hardware to back up this claim. A graduate of the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, the Washington, D.C., native took home multiple honors for his work in sculpture and painting as a teen.
And this semester, needing just three credits to graduate with a degree in finance, Lewis is doing what any Whartonite hoopster with time on his hands would do: paint.
"This is the first studio class I've been able to take," Lewis said. "It's fun to be doing it again."
Professing an interest in "still-life and fantasy pieces," Lewis describes his latest opus as a multi-colored, construction-paper collage.
"The shapes are kind of abstract," Lewis said. "It's hard to describe."
Despite four years at The Palestra, Lewis has managed to conceal his skill with the paint pallet from his Red and Blue teammates. To be sure, Lewis could paint the ceiling of College Basketball's Cathedral, and no one would suspect a thing.
"I see the guy every day and didn't know he had that background," fellow front-court senior Brennan Votel said. "It's actually pretty funny."
Votel and the rest of the Quakers have, of course, kept better tabs on Lewis' basketball trajectory. After playing sporadically for two seasons behind established big men Mark Zoller and Stephen Danley, Lewis saw his role expand significantly last season.
In 22 contests - 10 of which he started - Lewis averaged just 3.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, but he did carve a niche for himself as a bruising defensive body in the lane, blocking 19 shots on the year.
"When he comes and plays with his strengths, he helps our team," Penn coach Glen Miller said. "He's just a terrific individual and a great teammate. That's the best compliment I can give him."
So far in his senior campaign, Lewis has contributed numbers nearly identical to last year's - with one small exception.
"He's actually making free throws," Votel said, "which is really a good bonus."
Indeed, while his current foul-line clip of 57 percent is no masterpiece, it's a far cry from the woeful 30 percent (15-for-50) conversion rate of his first three seasons.
Lewis, for his part, is hopeful that the annual growth will translate to his post-collegiate venture: a Wall Street job with Goldman Sachs.
"I wanted to be financially independent after college," he said. "I think this career path is one of those ways [to do that]."
So will the brush and easel of this not-so-starving artist survive the bulls and bears of the Big Apple?
"It's definitely something I'll continue to do," Lewis said. "[But] finding time is the hardest thing."
With so many balls to juggle, the fate of Lewis's art remains where it always has: in his hands.
