The story of DJ Evans as an Albany Great Dane begins at a 2012 NJCAA tournament game in Hutchinson, Kan.
Longtime Albany head coach Will Brown sat in the arena, searching for a junior college wing that could help his team immediately. Instead, he saw Evans, a diminutive point guard generously listed at 5-foot-9.
“My staff was texting me, ‘How are things going?’” Brown said. “I’m like, ‘Man, I love this 5-foot-7 point guard from East Mississippi [Community College], but that’s the last thing we need.’”
Brown knew who would start in his backcourt in 2012-13. He had the 6-foot Mike Black and the 5-foot-10 Jacob Iati, a pair of senior guards, and could not afford to go even smaller with Evans on the floor.
But Brown’s attitude shifted after he flew back to New York.
“When I came back,” Brown said, “[The assistants] were like, ‘Coach, you really like this kid. Why don’t you just take him and put the best players on the floor?’”
Not even two years later, the 2012 NJCAA Second Team All-American honoree has emerged as Albany’s best player through two games. Black and Iati graduated, leaving the reins of the offense to Evans, and the senior has capitalized on his opportunity.
In 32 minutes per game — up from 9.9 a year ago — Evans has averaged 16 points, 3.5 rebounds, two assists, 3.5 steals and just 0.5 turnovers. He’s also shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 40 percent from long range.
The Great Danes, despite a scare against NJIT, stand 2-0.
“I had confidence in DJ,” Brown said. “I just wasn’t going to pump him up in the preseason just because the sample size was small, and I wanted him to get comfortable and relax and allow him to learn as we go because he hadn’t been in a situation where he played 28 to 30 minutes a night at the Division I level.”
Though Evans has stuffed the statsheet, Brown said his point guard still has one crucial area in which he must improve.
“He’s a very, very quiet, laidback, unassuming young man, and it’s really been a work in progress getting him to be more vocal,” Brown said. “I mean this in the nicest way: In his free time he likes to be back in Mississippi with a fishing pole in his hand, by himself, catching catfish.”
“I just need him to be an extension of me, be more vocal,” Brown added, “and I saw signs of that [against NJIT] down the stretch. Hopefully that will continue.”
Brown said he does not expect Evans to maintain his scoring rate, but will rely on the floor general to consistently reach double figures.
Of course, even that — being a reliable scorer for a Division I team — may have seemed far-fetched a few years ago. Evans is quick and can make plays, but he’s also undersized — even by America East standards.
“He plays with a chip on his shoulder. Everyone’s always talked about his size or lack thereof,” Brown said. “I think what people are seeing is a good basketball player that’s waited his turn and is going to have a good senior year.”
#AEHoops Roundup
- Stony Brook sophomore forward and AE Preseason Player of the Year Jameel Warney went down with a knee injury on Wednesday night, scaring the home crowd. His exit from the game was brief, however, and the Seawolves will carry a 3-0 mark into Bloomington for their weekend tilt with Indiana.
- Preseason favorite Vermont lost sophomore forward Ethan O’Day to a broken thumb. The 1-1 Catamounts expect him to miss 4-6 weeks.
- It was easy to ignore New Hampshire’s 94-70 win over non-DI Suffolk, but the Wildcats drew some attention in earning an 84-81 win at Duquesne of the A-10.
- Hartford scored its first win with a 63-53 defeat of Fairfield on Wednesday. The Hawks, who relinquished an 11-point lead in their season opener against Quinnipiac, also fell to Florida Gulf Coast.
- Maine has lost each of its games against Division I opponents by 20 or more points. The Black Bears have allowed an average of 102.5 points in those two losses.
- After taking a tie into halftime against No. 7 Michigan, UMass Lowell has been outscored, 137-84, in its last 60 minutes of play.
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