It took just one season for University of Pikeville men’s basketball coach Kelly Wells to promote Evan Faulkner from graduate assistant to full-time assistant coach after a successful 2016-17 campaign.
“I’m very excited to have Evan Faulkner move into the assistant coach position, said Wells, entering his 12th season as UPIKE’s head coach. “Evan’s experiences as a player and coach are invaluable to our program and success. I am very comfortable knowing that Evan is a great person, driven for success and very knowledgeable in all areas of coaching college basketball.
“Working with Evan as a graduate assistant in our program last year secured my faith in his abilities and work ethic. I am so thankful for him and look forward to sharing all the responsibilities in developing and mentoring our student-athletes for the game of basketball and life.”
Over the last year at UPIKE, Faulkner assisted in game preparation, player development and travel. He’ll now take a larger role with opponent scouting and recruiting on and off campus. His first season with the Bears was a good one, helping them to a 28-8 record and a fourth trip to the NAIA national quarterfinals.
Faulkner came to UPIKE after two seasons as the head coach at Ripley High School (W. Va.) where he led the team to a 16-9 record in 2015-16, giving it the most wins since 1997 and the school’s first trip to the regional tournament in 15 years.
Prior to Ripley, Faulkner spent the 2013-14 season as an assistant coach at NCAA Div II Charleston (W. Va.). Charleston reached the NCAA Div. II National Tournament that season after winning the Mountain East Conference Tournament title. Faulkner’s duties included scouting, recruiting, budget management and academic success.
As a collegiate student-athlete, Faulkner spent two seasons at NCAA Div. I Radford (Va.) before finishing his career at Charleston where he was part of 45 wins in two seasons and was a Second Team All-WVIAC selection as a senior.
Faulkner’s prep career at Elliott County High School in Eastern Kentucky included three 16th Region Championships and 141 wins in his career.
