UNC Asheville men’s basketball head coach Mike Morrell announced the addition of R.J. Evans as an assistant coach on Thursday, May 10.
Evans joins the UNC Asheville men’s basketball program after spending last season as an assistant coach at the University of Louisville under David Padgett.
“I could not be more excited to have R.J. joining us here in Asheville,” Morrell said. “He is someone that I have worked with previously at Texas. R.J. has a tremendous work ethic and an ability to connect with people. Bulldog fans are really going to enjoy getting the chance to meet and spend time with him here at UNC Asheville.”
Evans is excited to be a Bulldog.
“I am incredibly thankful to be provided this opportunity by Coach Morrell, who I have worked with before and believe has a great vision for the future of our program,” Evans said. “UNC Asheville is a tremendous institution and we will work hard to continue the strong basketball tradition already in place.”
During his lone season at Louisville, the Cardinals finished with 22 wins. Louisville advanced to the 2018 National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals.
Prior to his time at Louisville, Evans was on staff with Morrell under Shaka Smart at the University of Texas. He spent two years on the Texas staff as a graduate assistant.
Evans joined Smart’s staff at Texas after one year as an assistant coach at Nichols College under Tom Glynn in Dudley, Mass. The Bison posted a 20-6 overall record and won the 2014-15 Commonwealth Coast regular-season title with a 17-1 mark in his lone season on staff.
Evans played college basketball at both Holy Cross and the University of Connecticut. In his three years at Holy Cross, Evans scored over 1,200 career points. A co-captain in the 2011-12 season, Evans averaged 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He was named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.
As a graduate student at UConn, he helped the Huskies to a 20-10 record in the 2012-13 season. He appeared in 27 games and averaged 3.1 points per game. He made three starts on the season, while also collecting 25 steals.
A native of Salem, Conn., Evans actually has two Master’s degrees. He received a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from UConn in 2013 and a Master’s degree in Kinesiology from Texas in 2017. Evans picked up his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Holy Cross in 2012.
