Poll voter leaves off teams in scandal

The hottest topic in college basketball — the FBI investigation that alleges multiple schools have been involved in a pay-toplay scheme — has found its way into every corner of the game, including the preseason rankings.

The USA TODAY Sports preseason coaches poll was released Thursday, and at least one coach, Idaho State’s Bill Evans, chose to not include the schools implicated in the FBI documents. That means Evans did not cast a vote for Arizona, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), Southern California, Oklahoma State or Auburn. Arizona is considered a Final Four contender.

“What really prompted me to do this is my son and I go over the poll,” Evans said. “He’s 12, and we talk about (the poll) every week. I think I was sending him a little bit of a message, too. … I’m not throwing any of those schools under the bus. I did my poll early, about when those things came to light, and I told him, ‘I’m not going to vote for those guys.’ ”

Evans said he’s still undecided about how he’ll vote in the coming weeks because, “I wonder how many other schools are in a similar situation, only it hasn’t come to light yet. When those young assistants made a decision to do what they did, I have a feeling — and I don’t know this for sure, but I have a feeling — they weren’t just competing against three or four other schools.”

Evans stressed repeatedly that he was not trying to point fingers at any particular program or coach.

“I don’t live in their world,” Ev-

“And as I sit back and reflect, I wonder if that might not have been fair because I think it’s not just these schools.” Idaho State coach Bill Evans, on omitting schools involved in the scandal

ans said, referencing the Power Five programs implicated in the scandal. “I don’t walk in their shoes. I live in my own little world, with about 275 other people at schools like mine. … That doesn’t make it right. Now, no one has been convicted. But I know the challenges that they face are way different than the challenges that I face.”

Evans said there has been talk within the National Association of Basketball Coaches about “holding one another accountable,” and that was on his mind when he cast his preseason vote.

“When I voted, I think maybe I was being ‘rebel for a day,’ ” Evans said. “And as I sit back and reflect, I wonder if that might not have been fair because I think it’s not just these schools.”

Regardless of what the FBI investigation uncovers, Evans believes the sport he loves, where he’s been a head coach for 21 years, will survive.

“College basketball is still the best,” he said. “Some things have come to light, but hopefully this is just a bump in the road.”