Keenan Evans (born August 23, 1996) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Žalgiris Kaunas of the

Lithuanian Basketball League Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

(LKL) and the EuroLeague. He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

College career

A 6’3”

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, after Evans starred at Lloyd V. Berkner High School in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University of ...

, he committed to

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

to play for coach

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Univers ...

. When Smith left Texas Tech to become head coach at Memphis, Evans stayed to play for

Chris Beard Christopher Michael Beard (born February 18, 1973) is an American basketball coach who was most recently the head coach at the University of Texas at Austin for the men's team. He previously coached at Texas Tech, Little Rock, Angelo State, and ...

, Smith's replacement. As a junior, Evans averaged 15.4 points (7th in the Big 12) and 3 assists a game, was second in free throw percentage (.849) and ninth in field goal percentage (.464) in the Big 12, and was named third-team All-

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

for the 2016–17 season. As a senior in 2017–18, Evans emerged as the primary scoring option for the Red Raiders and led them to a top ten ranking during the season. He scored one of the most memorable baskets of the Red Raiders’ season as he hit a game-winner against in-State rival

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

on February in a game where he scored a career-high 38 points. Evans was named to the late-season watch lists for the

Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

and the

Bob Cousy Award The Bob Cousy Award presented by The College of the Holy Cross (or Bob Cousy Collegiate Point Guard of the Year Award) is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate point guard. ...

. For the season, he was averaged 17.6 points per game (2nd in the Big 12), and was 6th in field goal percentage (.471) and 7th in free throw percentage (.817).

Professional career

Grand Rapids Drive (2018–2019)

After going undrafted in the

2018 NBA draft The 2018 NBA Draft was held on June 21, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible players, including inte ...

, Evans signed a contract with the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

for their summer league team. He later signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...

with the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

. On January 15, 2019, Evans was waived by the Pistons, but was retained on the Drive roster.

Delaware Blue Coats (2019)

On January 22, 2019, Evans was traded to the

Delaware Blue Coats The Delaware Blue Coats are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Wilmington, Delaware, and are affiliated with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Blue Coats play their home games at Chase Fieldhouse. The team was founde ...

along with the returning player rights to

Chris Horton Christopher Dion Horton (born December 29, 1984) is an American football coach and former player who is the special teams coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a safety in the NFL for the Washin ...

in exchange for the returning player rights to Shawn Long and Devondrick Walker.

Igokea (2019–2020)

On July 26, 2019, Evans signed a one-year contract for Igokea of the

Adriatic League The ABA League, renamed to the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the 1st-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from the former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Mace ...

Hapoel Haifa (2020–2021)

In July 2020, he joined

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל חיפה, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups ( ...

of the

Israel Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional competition in Israeli club basketball, making it Israel's primary basketball co ...

. In 2020–21 he was sixth in the Israel Basketball Premier League in points per game (18.7), fourth in assists per game (6.2), second in steals per game (2.0), and ninth in free throw percentage (85.5 per cent), while also leading the league in efficiency (25.7 PIR).

Maccabi Tel Aviv (2021–2022)

On July 6, 2021, Evans signed a one-year deal with

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...

and the EuroLeague, with an option for two additional years. On July 12, 2022, Evans officially parted ways with the Israeli club.

Žalgiris Kaunas (2022–present)

On July 12, 2022, Evans signed a two-year contract with Žalgiris Kaunas of the

(LKL) and the EuroLeague. On December 23, 2022, Evans recorded a career-high 32 points, shooting 11-of-15 from the field, along with four rebounds, four assists and two steals for a 39 PIR in a 75–67 win over

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

. He was subsequently named EuroLeague Round 15 MVP.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 3 , , 18.2 , , .369 , , .302 , , .716 , , 2.0 , , 1.4 , , .8 , , .3 , , 5.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2015–16 , style="text-align:left;",

, 32 , , 31 , , 25.1 , , .412 , , .375 , , .756 , , 2.9 , , 2.9 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 8.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2016–17 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , 30 , , 30.4 , , .464 , , .432 , , .849 , , 2.8 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 15.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 35 , , 29.5 , , .471 , , .320 , , .817 , , 3.0 , , 3.2 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , 17.6 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 131 , , 99 , , 25.9 , , .444 , , .360 , , .797 , , 2.7 , , 2.6 , , 1.0 , , .3 , , 12.0

EuroLeague

, - , align="left" , 2021–22 , align="left" , Maccabi , 33 , , 32 , , 25.2 , , .442 , , .329 , , .879 , , 2.5 , , 3.5 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 8.2 , , 10.2 , - class="sortbottom" , align="center" colspan="2", Career , 33 , , 32 , , 25.2 , , .442 , , .329 , , .879 , , 2.5 , , 3.5 , , 1.2 , , .2 , , 8.2 , , 10.2

Personal life

Evans is the son of Olympic high jumper Kenny Evans.

References

External links

EuroLeague profileProballers.com profileRealGM.com profileTexas Tech Red Raiders bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Keenan 1996 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportspeople ABA League players African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Bosnia and Herzegovina American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Lithuania American men's basketball players Basketball players from Texas BC Žalgiris players Delaware Blue Coats players Grand Rapids Drive players Hapoel Haifa B.C. players KK Igokea players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players People from Richardson, Texas Point guards Shooting guards Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball players