Idaho State University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Bill Evans’ contract will not be renewed after it expires early in May. Director of Athletics Pauline Thiros made the announcement on Tuesday.

Evans has been the head coach at Idaho State for the past seven seasons and tallied a 71-141 record and a 46-83 mark in Big Sky Conference play.

“Coach Evans is an exceptional person, and I have a great deal of respect for him. He has done so many things we can be proud in our Bengal Basketball program,” Thiros said. “I am grateful for the fine young men Bill brought to Idaho State, and the manner in which he has guided them. This was an extremely difficult decision, but at the end of the day, we have to do everything possible to give our student athletes a chance to be competitive on the court, as well as off.”

Idaho State concluded the 2018-19 season with an 11-19 record and a 7-13 mark in Big Sky Conference play.  

Evans was the Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Bengals to a fourth place finish during the 2015-16 season. The fourth place finish also earned him the NABC District Coach of the Year.

Off the court, Evans graduated all 18 of his seniors and his teams regularly boasted a 3.0 grade point average or better. Following the 2017-18 year, his program was one of only 41 Division I programs to have a GPA of 3.0 or better. That year, his team was one of only 12 schools to have five players or more recognized by the NABC Honors Court for academic excellence.

Evans was hired at Idaho State in March of 2012. Prior to coming to Pocatello, he was an assistant at Montana for four years.

“We are grateful to Bill Evans for his service to Idaho State University Men’s Basketball and I think Bill is a great person” added ISU President Kevin Satterlee. “Going forward, we owe it to our students and to our community to  advance as a winning program and work towards excellence.”

A national search to hire a new head coach will begin immediately.

https://isubengals.com/news/2019/3/26/evans-will-not-return-as-isu-mens-basketball-coach.aspx