USA TODAY International Edition
Under bright lights, Evans embraces role at Texas Tech
Expect senior to get late looks against Purdue
DALLAS – If the game is on the line when No. 3 Texas Tech plays No. 2 Purdue in the Sweet 16 on Friday, the mystery is over.
The ball almost assuredly will be in the hands of Red Raiders senior guard Keenan Evans. For good reason.
Texas Tech’s victory against Florida in the second round of the NCAA tournament demonstrates why. Score tied at 64.
About 21⁄2 minutes to play. Evans gets the ball and … buries a contested threepointer.
Clinging to that 67-64 lead in the final minute, Evans splits two defenders and lofts a pass to Zhaire Smith for the game-clinching, alley-oop dunk. Soon, Evans was celebrating, having scored 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting and leading the Red Raiders to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2005.
“I just love coaching him,” Texas Tech coach Chris Beard said. “I just don’t want it to end. I want to coach that guy another day.
“It is like when you go to a good movie and you know it’s getting toward the end, but you are loving the movie so much, you want it to go a little bit farther. Or you’ve got a good plate of enchiladas and you’re looking at it, and you only have two bites left, but it’s so good, you turn it into three bites.”
Evans’ play has been savory during the NCAA tournament. After managing only four points in the first half of Texas Tech’s first-round game against Stephen F. Austin, he scored 19 in the second half to go along with six rebounds and five assists during Texas Tech’s comeback victory.
But to appreciate his success, it’s best to start five years ago.
Raised in the Dallas area, he is the son of Kenny Evans, a high jumper who advanced to the finals of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and Shantell Evans, who played basketball at Arkansas-Pine Bluff of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and earned all-SWAC honors. But in high school, Keenan Evans wasn’t even a top 100 prospect, much less a McDonald’s All-American.
“Not being really touted as a four- or five-star motivates you every day,” Evans said.
Tubby Smith, then-coach at Texas Tech, saw that determination and signed Evans. The journey began.
As a freshman, he came off the bench for a team that went 3-15 in the Big 12 and 13-19 overall. He helped flip the script as the team’s starting point guard the next year, with the Red Raiders going 19-13 and making the NCAA tournament before losing to Butler in the first round.
Then his coach left for Memphis, leaving him with Beard and uncertainty.
As a junior, though, Evans nearly doubled his scoring average, to 15.4 points per game, to go along with three assists and 2.8 rebounds. But Texas Tech finished 6-12 in the Big 12 and 18-14 overall.
Now, Evans and the Red Raiders are both flourishing. He is the school’s first finalist for the Bob Cousey Point Guard of the Year Award and averaging a teambest 17.8 points and a team-best 3.2 assists.
His progress resulted from a process of hard work, said the 6-3 Evans, who added, “You can’t let up.”
Said Beard, “This guy has willed himself into one of the best players in college basketball.”
On top of that, Evans has played with a toe injury that Texas Tech disclosed Feb. 19.
“The courage he’s shown here in the last month with his toe issue to still play at this level in the kind of pain he’s in,” Beard said. “I’ve never coached in the NBA, but I know those guys look for the intangibles, and that guy’s middle name is intangible. I’ve never coached a tougher guy than Keenan Evans.” But his college career isn’t over yet. “This journey has meant everything to me,” he said, “just being at the bottom of Tech basketball and now it being at one of the highest points and being part of a team that can pretty much make history is unbelievable.”