University of Tennessee Athletics
Evans' Leadership Founded on Experience
January 31, 2017 | Men's Basketball
By Chandler Frumin
UTsports.com
Late last spring, Tennessee’s projected roster for this 2016-17 roster included just a pair of players who stood 6-7 or taller. The UT coaching staff knew the team’s frontcourt needed an injection of size, toughness and—perhaps most critically—experience. And they found a young man who checked each of those boxes in graduate transfer Lew Evans.
Evans, a 6-7 forward whose collegiate journey began in junior college before meandering through the Tulsa, Oklahoma, and later Logan, Utah, earned his undergraduate degree from Utah State in June. With diploma in hand and one remaining year of NCAA eligibility, he decided to explore his options as a graduate transfer.
Although Evans has NCAA Tournament experience and an extremely versatile skill-set, he was surprised to receive a call from legendary basketball coach Rick Barnes.
"When I first got a call from Rick Barnes, I was shocked,” Evans said. “Playing for a guy who has been coaching forever, who has so many wins, and who is a Hall of Fame coach is very satisfying."
Evans, a Salt Lake City, Utah, native ultimately chose Tennessee because of the program’s focus on being a family, not just a team. Being offered an opportunity to play high-major hoops was enticing to Evans, but building relationships is what attracted him the most.
Evans recalled his previous recruiting processes and how the majority of coaches came across. This Tennessee coaching staff, however, took an alternate approach.
Evans' veteran leadership was on display against Kentucky, finishing with eight points, four rebounds and contributing on the defensive end in 23 minutes off the bench.
"It was different in the way [Associate Head Coach Rob Lanier] tried to recruit me; the same goes for Coach Barnes," Evans said. "I think with Coach Barnes and Coach Lanier and their recruiting process, they really cared about me as a person, and as a player. With them, they both had my best interest at heart."
Having played at Tulsa in Conference USA and, most recently, at Utah State in the Mountain West Conference, Evans has a wide range of collegiate experience under his belt.
He knows what it takes on the court, as well as off the court, to be an effective player and team. Leadership illustrates the why and the how associated with accomplishing a given task. For Evans, the opportunity to occupy a leadership role was a major selling point in coming to Tennessee.
"I think being one of only a few upperclassmen, I can help the younger guys excel faster than they normally would,” Evans said. “I can be a vocal leader on the court and off the court."
With freshmen accounting for close to half of this year’s team, Evans’ understanding of what it takes to win at this level definitely commands the respect his younger teammates. It’s a role he has embraced.
Evans was also excited about the challenge of competing in the SEC.
"Every league is different," he said during the preseason. "Playing in the SEC is going to be fun because you’re playing against some of the top teams in the country."
After this season, Evans hopes to play basketball professionally. He knows that playing under the spotlight in the SEC will set him up for success.
His gratitude toward Tennessee is evident in the way he speaks about this new opportunity. Evans wants to make his final collegiate season a memorable one, sharing this final lap with his Vol teammates and coaches.
"It’s a good way to go out, to play for a guy like [Coach Barnes] and for a great school like the University of Tennessee."
"He does a lot of little, intangible type things. Where he shows up better than anything is with our point guards. He’s a guy talking and trying to get them to settle down and understand exactly that is going on in the game." - Rick Barnes discussing Evans' play following UT's win over Mississippi State
