MUNCIE, Ind. (AP) — Ball State announced Saturday it has fired coach Michael Lewis after four seasons and will begin searching immediately for his successor.

Lewis had a promising start to his career, going 20-12 in 2022-23 but won fewer games each of his final three seasons, culminating in a career worst 12-19 mark this season. The Cardinals won their final four games but it was not good enough to propel Ball State into the Mid-American Conference Tournament — or to save Lewis’ job.

“We are grateful to coach Lewis for the passion and commitment he brought to our program the past four years,” athletic director Jeff Mitchell said in a statement. “We appreciate the time and effort he invested in our student-athletes.”

But after that 20-win season, Ball State won 15, 14 and 12 games over the next three seasons as Lewis went 61-64 in his first head coaching job.

The 48-year-old Lewis is a native of Jasper, Indiana, who played all four college seasons at Indiana University under coach Bob Knight. He played on Knight’s final Hoosiers team in 1999-2000 and finished his career at the school’s all-time leader in assists with 545. He still ranks second all-time.

Before taking the Ball State job, Lewis had served as an assistant coach at Stephen F. Austin, Eastern Illinois, Butler, Nebraska and UCLA and as a graduate assistant under Knight at Texas Tech from 2002-04.

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