 past two seasons at Mississippi. |
A New Era Begins with Rob Evans
Sun Devils name SEC Coach of the Year as new men's basketball coach.
April 7, 1998
Tempe, Ariz. -- Arizona State University has named Rob Evans as its men's basketball coach, Athletic Director Dr. Kevin White announced today.
"We are proud to announce that Rob Evans, whom I have had the pleasure of watching build the Mississippi program, is the new men's basketball coach at Arizona State," said Dr. White. "His reputation and the program he built at Mississippi are among the best in college basketball."
Evans has led Mississippi to a 42-16 record in the past two seasons and has produced back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances for the Rebels, the first time that has happened in school history (Mississippi has been to the NCAA Tournament three times overall). Evans was the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year in 1997 and led the program to back-to-back SEC West regular season titles. Ole Miss posted back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 1937-38 in the past two seasons. Evans, 51, is 87-80 (.521) in his six-year head-coaching career.
"I am excited for the opportunity to lead this program into the next century," said Evans, who won 42 games the past two years after winning 44 in the first four seasons as he resurrected the Mississippi program. "We have a tremendous base to build on with the Phoenix area and this is a program that should aspire to be among the best in the Pacific-10 Conference and the nation. We look forward to recruiting the top student-athletes to our campus and producing a team and a program that Arizona State fans and alumni are proud of."
The 1997-98 Rebels were 22-7 overall and 13-5 in the SEC West and defeated national champion Kentucky on the road 73-64, their first win at Lexington since 1927. Ole Miss rallied to win the SEC West title as it was three games behind Arkansas at one point but won its final seven to finish 12-4. Ole Miss went 13-0 at home and sold out every SEC game, creating an unprecedented interest in the basketball program. The Rebels entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Regional before they were beaten by Valparaiso 70-69. Basketball Times named Evans its All-South Coach of the Year for his efforts.
In 1996-97, Evans and the Rebels won the SEC West title by three games with an 11-5 conference mark. Evans guided the Rebels to their best season since the 1930s, the school's first regular-season basketball title of any kind and its first at-large invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Ole Miss posted a 20-9 record and the 20 wins were the second-highest in program history. Evans was named the 1997 SEC Coach of the Year by the Associated Press.
Before arriving at Ole Miss in March of 1992, Evans spent two seasons at Oklahoma State on Eddie Sutton's staff. In 1991-92, Evans helped guide the Cowboys to a 28-8 record and OSU reached as high as No. 2 in the national rankings before being eliminated by national runner-up Michigan in the Sweet 16. The Cowboys also reached the Sweet 16 in 1990-91. The Cowboy's recruiting classes of 1991 and 1992 were both ranked in the top 15, while many players on OSU's 1995 Final Four squad were recruited by Evans.
Prior to the stint at Oklahoma State, Evans worked for 15 years (1975-90) under Gerald Myers at Texas Tech. The Red Raiders racked up 11 winning seasons, 242 victories and reached the NCAA Tournament in 1975, 1985 and 1986.
Evans graduated from New Mexico State in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in English. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, serving as an assistant coach for seven years (1968-75) under former Illinois and current Aggie coach Lou Henson. While at NMSU, the Aggies posted three 20-plus win seasons, four NCAA Tournament appearances (including a Final Four trip in 1970) and were 135-54 overall.
As a student-athlete at NMSU, Evans captained the 1966-67 Aggies to a 15-11 record and the 1967-68 team team to a 23-6 mark and led the team to the NCAA Tournament in both seasons. In 1966-67, the Aggies lost to Elvin Hayes and the University of Houston and in 1967-68 the Aggies topped Dick Motta's Weber State squad but fell to eventual champion UCLA and Lew Alcindor. Evans was selected NMSU's most outstanding athlete in 1967 and was recently named to the school's All-Time Basketball Team and in 1993 was inducted into the NMSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
Evans began his collegiate studies at Lubbock Christian College in Lubbock, Texas, where he received a two-year Arts and Sciences degree in 1966. At Lubbock, he was named the school's first All-American, averaging 19.8 points in 1966. In his second year, he was voted team captain and was an All-Conference and All-Region performer and was voted the team's best defensive player both seasons.
Robert Oran Evans was born and raised Sept. 7, 1946, in Hobbs N.M., and played for Ralph Tasker. Evans also starred in baseball in his prep days, as he was drafted by the Houston Colt 45s (currently the Houston Astros) in 1964. Evans also was drafted by the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association, and in 1968 he signed a free agent contract with the Oakland Raiders as a wide receiver. In 1991, Evans was elected by his peers as president of the National Association of Assistant Basketball Coaches.
He and his wife, the former Carolyn Marshall, were married July 25, 1970. Mrs Evans is active in the Oxford community, including the Baptist Memorial Hospital Community Board and the American Cancer Society. The couple has two children, a son, Damon, and a daughter, Amber. Damon graduated from Ole Miss in May of 1996 with a degree in business adminstration, specializing in in Banking and Finance. He was selected the 1996 Orrin Swayze Scholar and earned the 1996 Mississippi Young Banker Scholar Award. Damon currently works and resides in Memphis, Tenn. Amber is a sophomore at Ole Miss majoring in broadcast journalism.
ASU Athletic Director Kevin White has watched Evans and Mississippi basketball for the past three years with a personal interest, as White's son, Michael, will be entering his senior year at Mississippi next season.
Arizona State finished 18-14 in 1997-98 and reached the National Invitational Tournament under Don Newman, who was named interim coach on Sept. 22, 1997. Bill Frieder resigned on Sept. 10 after posting a 133-107 (.554) mark in his eight-year tenure (1989-1997).
Evans becomes the 12th men's basketball coach of the program which began in 1928. Ned Wulk (1958-82) ended his career as the winningest coach in ASU history with a 406-272 (.599) mark.