Vanessa Blair-Lewis is an American college basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the George Mason Patriots women's basketball team. She was previously the head coach of the women's basketball teams at Mount St. Mary's University and Bethune–Cookman University.
Career Blair-Lewis played basketball at Largo High School in Largo, Maryland, where her father was the head coach. From 1988 to 1992, she attended and played for Mount St. Mary's; after graduating, she played professionally for two years in Sweden. She began coaching as an assistant at her alma mater under head coach Bill Sheahan; when Sheehan retired in 1998, he appointed her as head coach. She led the Mount St. Mary's women's basketball team until 2007, when she retired to spend time with her family.
Blair-Lewis returned to coaching the next year, when she took the head coaching position at Bethune–Cookman. She coached at Bethune–Cookman until 2020; during her time there, she was awarded Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times, and she led the team to its first appearance in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament in 2019. She was hired as head coach at George Mason in 2021. The team had lost all of its conference matches the season before her arrival; to motivate the team, she hung a banner in their practice gym proclaiming them "Future Women's Atlantic 10 Champions". Her prediction ultimately came true, as the team won the 2025 Atlantic 10 women's basketball tournament and made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Personal life Blair-Lewis is married to NBA referee Eric Lewis.
Head coaching record
References