Early years

Evans was born in Hobbs, New Mexico, 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 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 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’s 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 for the 1966-67 season where he was coached by Lou Henson. He was named team captain and led the Aggies to a 15-11 record and a 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.

Coaching career

After his graduation, Evans was hired as an assistant at New Mexico State under Henson. When Henson left for Illinois in 1976, Evans moved to Texas Tech and served for 14 years as an assistant under Gerald Myers. After two years as an assistant at Oklahoma State under Eddie Sutton, 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 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.

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, and he was fired after the 2006 season.

Professional players coached

Mississippi

• Ansu Sesay

Arizona State

• Eddie House
• Awvee Storey
• Tommy Smith (basketball)
• Ike Diogu

Head coaching record

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Mississippi (Southeastern Conference)
1992-93	Mississippi	10-18	4-12	6th-West
1993-94	Mississippi	14-13	7-9	4th-West
1994-95	Mississippi	8-19	3-13	6th-West
1995-96	Mississippi	12-15	6-10	T4th-West
1996-97	Mississippi	20-9	11-5	1st-West	NCAA 1st Round
1997-98	Mississippi	22-7	12-4	1st-West	NCAA 1st Round
Mississippi:		86-81	43-53
Arizona State (Pacific-10 Conference)
1998-99	Arizona State	14-16	6-12	9th
1999-00	Arizona State	19-13	10-8	T-4th	NIT 2nd Round
2000-01	Arizona State	13-16	5-13	T-6th
2001-02	Arizona State	14-15	7-11	7th	NIT 1st Round
2002-03	Arizona State	20-12	11-7	4th	NCAA 2nd Round
2003-04	Arizona State	10-17	4-14	10th
2004-05	Arizona State	18-14	7-11	T-6th	NIT 1st Round
2005-06	Arizona State	11-17	5-13	T-8th
Arizona State:		119-120	55-89
Total:		205-201

[ Source: Wikipedia ]