Robert Oran Evans (born September 7, 1946) is an American

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 ...

coach. He was most recently the associate head coach with the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School," ...

. Evans served as head men's basketball coach at the

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

(Ole Miss) from 1992 to 1998 and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...

from 1998 to 2006.

Early years

Evans was born in

Hobbs, New Mexico Hobbs is a city in Lea County, New Mexico, Lea County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 40,508 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, increasing from 34,122 in 2010. Hobbs is the principal city of the Hobbs, New Mexico microp ...

, the son of Gladys (née Spirlin), a home cleaner, and Oscar, a preacher and janitor. Robert was the fourth of seven children, all of whom would go on to graduate college. Evans played high school basketball at

Hobbs High School Hobbs High School (HHS) is located in Hobbs, New Mexico, United States. It had a student population of about 1900 students as of 2017. In addition to Hobbs it serves Monument, Nadine, and North Hobbs. Ralph Tasker coached basketball at HHS ...

under legendary coach Ralph Tasker. His senior year he was named co-captain. That year the team made it to the 1964 championship game and Evans was invited to the state all-star game in Albuquerque. Evans played junior college basketball at what is now

Lubbock Christian University Lubbock Christian University (LCU) is a private Christian university associated with the Churches of Christ and located in Lubbock, Texas. Chartered originally as part of a grade school called Lubbock Christian School in 1954, the institutio ...

where he was named the school's first All-American. Both seasons he played at Lubbock Christian Evans was voted the teams’ best defensive player. In his second year with the team Evans was named team captain. In 1966 Evans earned his associate degree in Arts and Sciences. At Lubbock Christian Evans was teammates with Gerald Turner who would later become Chancellor of the University of Mississippi. Turner was instrumental in Evans’ hiring as head basketball coach in 1992. Evans transferred to

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

for the 1966–67 season where he was coached by

Lou Henson Louis Ray Henson (January 10, 1932 – July 25, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. He retired as the all-time leader in victories at the University of Illinois with 423 victories and New Mexico State with 289 victories. Overall, Henso ...

. He was named team captain and led the Aggies to a 15–11 record and an NCAA tournament appearance. The next season Evans again captained the team to a 23–6 record and another NCAA tournament appearance. In 1967 Evans was selected NMSU's most outstanding athlete. In May 1968 Evans earned his bachelor's degree in education.Devils' Advocate
The Phoenix New Times

Coaching career

After his graduation, Evans was hired as an assistant at New Mexico State under Henson. When Henson left for

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

in 1976, Evans moved 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 ...

and served for 14 years as an assistant under

Gerald Myers Gerald Myers (born August 5, 1936) is an American former college basketball coach. He was the head coach of the Texas Tech Red Raiders men's basketball team and the Houston Baptist Huskies men's basketball team and athletic director at Texas Tec ...

. After two years as an assistant at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

under

Eddie Sutton Edward Eugene Sutton (March 12, 1936 – May 23, 2020) was an American college basketball coach. A native of Bucklin, Kansas, Sutton played college basketball at Oklahoma A&M (later Oklahoma State) and was a head coach at the high school, junio ...

, Evans was hired at Ole Miss as its first black coach in a major sport. Evans inherited a program that had been one of the dregs of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

for decades. The Rebels had not had a winning season in SEC play since 1982–83, and had only finished in the top half of the conference twice in 59 years of conference play. After four years rebuilding the program, the Rebels shocked the SEC by winning consecutive West Division titles in 1997 and 1998 and notching the first 20-win seasons in school history. Ole Miss had been one of the few longstanding members of a "power conference" to have never won 20 games in a season. In 1998, Evans moved to Arizona State, which was reeling in the wake of a point-shaving scandal. His tenure at Arizona State was not nearly as successful as his tenure at Ole Miss, with only one NCAA appearance in eight seasons He was fired after the 2006 season.

Professional players coached

;Ole Miss *

Ansu Sesay Ansu Martin Sesay, Jr. (born July 29, 1976) is an American former professional basketball player. High school and college career Sesay attended Willowridge High School in Houston, Texas. He led his team to the school's first state title in bask ...

;Arizona State *

Ike Diogu Ikechukwu Somtochukwu Diogu (born September 11, 1983) is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player for Piratas de La Guaira of the Superliga Profesional de Baloncesto in Venezuela. Family and early life Diogu's parents, natives of Nig ...

Eddie House Edward Lee House II (born May 14, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player. A guard known for his three-point shooting, House played for nine NBA teams in 11 seasons in the league. He was a member of the Boston Celtics team that ...

* Tommy Smith *

Awvee Storey Awvee Storey (born April 18, 1977) is a former American professional basketball player and assistant coach for the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA. He played the shooting guard/small forward position. High school career Born in Chicago, Illinois, S ...

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Rob 1944 births Living people American men's basketball players Arizona State Sun Devils men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from New Mexico Basketball players from New Mexico College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Junior college men's basketball players in the United States New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball coaches New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball players Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball coaches Ole Miss Rebels men's basketball coaches People from Hobbs, New Mexico TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders basketball coaches