April 30, 2001
Arizona State men's hoops coach Rob Evans, a former assistant men's basketball coach at Texas Tech University, will be back in Lubbock on May 5--this time as a commencement speaker for Lubbock Christian University. Evans, himself an LCU alum, will deliver the commencement address in Rip Griffin Center at 10 a.m. This will be the first year for graduation to be held in the new sports facility located at 26th and Chicago on the LCU campus.
Evans graduated from Lubbock Christian College in 1966 with a degree in Arts and Sciences. In his first year he was named the school's first All-American in basketball. In his second year, Rob was voted team captain, was an All-Conference and All-Region performer and was voted the team's best defensive player both seasons. Rob then moved on to New Mexico State University where he helped lead their team to two consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Rob received his B.S. degree in Education from NMSU in 1968. Upon his graduation, Evans became an assistant coach for NMSU until 1975. From 1975-1990, Rob coached under Gerald Meyers at Texas Tech University. After leaving Tech, he spent two seasons at Oklahoma State coaching with Eddie Sutton. Ole Miss hired Evans in 1992. He was the head coach for the Rebels until 1998 when he took the head coaching job at Arizona State University.
Evans was inducted into the Lubbock Christian Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. He was also inducted into the Las Cruces, New Mexico, Hall of Fame in 1989 and was presented the Texas Tech Outstanding Achievement Award for 1986-1987. In October of 1994, Rob was selected as New Mexico Sate University's School of Education Alumnus of the Year. He was also named the 1997 Associated Press SEC Coach of the year and the 1997 College Hoops Insider National Coach of the Year.