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Ty as sly as ever
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| Alabama assistant coach Ty Evans, left, watches the action during a recent game with head coach Wendell Hudson and sophomore guard Varisia Raffington. Photo courtesy of Alabama Media Relations |
By Jim Franz
jfranz@beloitdailynews.com
Ex-Purple Knight making name for himself at Alabama
Ty Evans still loves to play basketball, although now that he's 36 it doesn't always love him back.
“It's going to be a Flexall night,” he said with a chuckle after playing noon ball Monday on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa.
It wasn't quite like the battles he used to have as an All-American at UW-Whitewater back in the 1990s, or as a pro player overseas. But the top assistant for the Crimson Tide's women's team was just happy to be tossing in a few of those left-handed floaters he once was famous for.
“It just feels good to be on the court again,” he said in a telephone interview. “It's been about a year and a half or two years. I had gotten kind of heavy, but I dropped 35 or 40 pounds since this summer and I had that itch again.”
Working in some court time can be a challenge for Evans, who has to juggle the responsibilities of being a top Division 1 assistant with being a dad to two daughters, 10 and 19 months and a 7-year-old son.
He also finds time to keep up with his all his ex-Beloit Memorial High School teammates.
“The wonders of technology,” Evans said. “The other day I was coming back from a recruiting trip in Texas and I spoke about an hour with my cousin, Kenny (Evans), who's the sophomore coach (at Beloit Memorial). He had to fill me in how his son (KJ Evans) and the varsity are doing.
“I talk to Michael Hodges just about every day. Cliff Boggs is a big Philadelphia Eagles fan so he had to call me to tell me they're headed to the Super Bowl. Darryl (Hilliard) keeps bugging me to run a basketball camp in Beloit and of course I had to call Kyle (Weaver) after the Thunder knocked off the Bulls.”
Not to mention another ex-Beloit buddy, Tim Wofford, works for the Boys and Girls Club in Gaston, Ala., about an hour away and is a frequent visitor.
“When you grow up in a city like Beloit playing basketball, you're connected with everybody and technology today makes it easy to stay connected,” Evans said. “Once a Purple Knight, always a Purple Knight.”
It helps Evans was a member of some terrific Beloit basketball teams. The Knights finished 19-6 his junior year and earned a trip to the state tournament. His senior year the Knights knocked off then-No. 1 ranked Milwaukee Marquette, 91-84, and climbed as high as a No. 2 ranking in Wisconsin. They were unbeaten in the Big Eight, but in the postseason the 1989-90 Knights were upset by Janesville Craig and finished 18-3. Evans earned All-State Second Team honors.
Networking is something Ty is extremely good at and it helps make him a top recruiter for Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson. This is Evans' second year with the program and sixth as a Division I assistant. Prior to taking the Crimson Tide job he coached at Georgetown University.
He said he owes his start in women's basketball, however, to Lance Randall, the former Beloit College player and assistant coach. It was Randall who got him an interview and subsequently his first position coaching women's basketball at Saint Louis University in 2001-02.
“I figured basketball was basketball,” Evans said of coaching women. “It was an adjustment, though. You have to be a little more detail-oriented because women tend to ask a lot more questions where guys are just instinctive. I think it made me a better coach.”
Evans, who had played overseas in Europe and Taiwan after starring at UW-W, took a year off from college coaching to guide a Norwegian men's pro team to the playoffs in 2002-03.
“After coaching at Saint Louis I found myself explaining everything down to the minute details to guys in Norway and they looked at me like I was crazy,” he said, chuckling. “Then I got back to Saint Louis the next season and I was setting up alley-oop plays and telling them to just come off the screens and they thought I was nuts, too.”
With the Crimson Tide, he primarily works with the post players, but he's also involved with all major decisions, game-planning, scheduling, film study and he is the head recruiter.
“I've been all over the country, Canada, even to Germany to see a player,” he said. “We're recruiting someone from Barbados now so I'll probably go there, too.”
Alabama was in total rebuilding mode when Evans arrived. The Tide won only eight games last season, but they are 12-5 so far this season.
“We're not just rebuilding the team, but the whole program,” Evans said. “We're teaching them what it means to play hard and hopefully that translates into wins. It's a step-by-step process. We're getting better.”
Evans said he's had feelers from other programs, but he likes where he is and he's enjoying the apprenticeship under ..
“I think I'm learning a lot,” he said. “I'd like to be a head coach someday and (Coach Hudson) tells me that time might not be too far off. But I wouldn't leave unless it was the right opportunity for me.”
And his family.
“The jobs usually open up in February and March,” he said. “At the end of February my wife and I sit at the table and she asks me if we're going to be here next year. I tell her it's going to take an awful lot to make me leave. I won't unless it's a situation that is conducive to me being successful. (Hudson) just signed an extension to his contract, so my job here is secure and it's a terrific place to live.”
Evans said he'd like to play a key role in producing an SEC powerhouse.
“Alabama might be a football state and school, but at the same time we have the resources, too, and it's an ideal situation,” he said. “We have plenty of support and a 16,000-seat arena. Our facilities have just been renovated. There's no reason we can't be successful here.”
Ty Evans still loves to play basketball, although now that he's 36 it doesn't always love him back.
“It's going to be a Flexall night,” he said with a chuckle after playing noon ball Monday on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa.
It wasn't quite like the battles he used to have as an All-American at UW-Whitewater back in the 1990s, or as a pro player overseas. But the top assistant for the Crimson Tide's women's team was just happy to be tossing in a few of those left-handed floaters he once was famous for.
“It just feels good to be on the court again,” he said in a telephone interview. “It's been about a year and a half or two years. I had gotten kind of heavy, but I dropped 35 or 40 pounds since this summer and I had that itch again.”
Working in some court time can be a challenge for Evans, who has to juggle the responsibilities of being a top Division 1 assistant with being a dad to two daughters, 10 and 19 months and a 7-year-old son.
He also finds time to keep up with his all his ex-Beloit Memorial High School teammates.
“The wonders of technology,” Evans said. “The other day I was coming back from a recruiting trip in Texas and I spoke about an hour with my cousin, Kenny (Evans), who's the sophomore coach (at Beloit Memorial). He had to fill me in how his son (KJ Evans) and the varsity are doing.
“I talk to Michael Hodges just about every day. Cliff Boggs is a big Philadelphia Eagles fan so he had to call me to tell me they're headed to the Super Bowl. Darryl (Hilliard) keeps bugging me to run a basketball camp in Beloit and of course I had to call Kyle (Weaver) after the Thunder knocked off the Bulls.”
Not to mention another ex-Beloit buddy, Tim Wofford, works for the Boys and Girls Club in Gaston, Ala., about an hour away and is a frequent visitor.
“When you grow up in a city like Beloit playing basketball, you're connected with everybody and technology today makes it easy to stay connected,” Evans said. “Once a Purple Knight, always a Purple Knight.”
It helps Evans was a member of some terrific Beloit basketball teams. The Knights finished 19-6 his junior year and earned a trip to the state tournament. His senior year the Knights knocked off then-No. 1 ranked Milwaukee Marquette, 91-84, and climbed as high as a No. 2 ranking in Wisconsin. They were unbeaten in the Big Eight, but in the postseason the 1989-90 Knights were upset by Janesville Craig and finished 18-3. Evans earned All-State Second Team honors.
Networking is something Ty is extremely good at and it helps make him a top recruiter for Alabama head coach Wendell Hudson. This is Evans' second year with the program and sixth as a Division I assistant. Prior to taking the Crimson Tide job he coached at Georgetown University.
He said he owes his start in women's basketball, however, to Lance Randall, the former Beloit College player and assistant coach. It was Randall who got him an interview and subsequently his first position coaching women's basketball at Saint Louis University in 2001-02.
“I figured basketball was basketball,” Evans said of coaching women. “It was an adjustment, though. You have to be a little more detail-oriented because women tend to ask a lot more questions where guys are just instinctive. I think it made me a better coach.”
Evans, who had played overseas in Europe and Taiwan after starring at UW-W, took a year off from college coaching to guide a Norwegian men's pro team to the playoffs in 2002-03.
“After coaching at Saint Louis I found myself explaining everything down to the minute details to guys in Norway and they looked at me like I was crazy,” he said, chuckling. “Then I got back to Saint Louis the next season and I was setting up alley-oop plays and telling them to just come off the screens and they thought I was nuts, too.”
With the Crimson Tide, he primarily works with the post players, but he's also involved with all major decisions, game-planning, scheduling, film study and he is the head recruiter.
“I've been all over the country, Canada, even to Germany to see a player,” he said. “We're recruiting someone from Barbados now so I'll probably go there, too.”
Alabama was in total rebuilding mode when Evans arrived. The Tide won only eight games last season, but they are 12-5 so far this season.
“We're not just rebuilding the team, but the whole program,” Evans said. “We're teaching them what it means to play hard and hopefully that translates into wins. It's a step-by-step process. We're getting better.”
Evans said he's had feelers from other programs, but he likes where he is and he's enjoying the apprenticeship under ..
“I think I'm learning a lot,” he said. “I'd like to be a head coach someday and (Coach Hudson) tells me that time might not be too far off. But I wouldn't leave unless it was the right opportunity for me.”
And his family.
“The jobs usually open up in February and March,” he said. “At the end of February my wife and I sit at the table and she asks me if we're going to be here next year. I tell her it's going to take an awful lot to make me leave. I won't unless it's a situation that is conducive to me being successful. (Hudson) just signed an extension to his contract, so my job here is secure and it's a terrific place to live.”
Evans said he'd like to play a key role in producing an SEC powerhouse.
“Alabama might be a football state and school, but at the same time we have the resources, too, and it's an ideal situation,” he said. “We have plenty of support and a 16,000-seat arena. Our facilities have just been renovated. There's no reason we can't be successful here.”
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