| Subject: Zach Evans - Article |
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bison137
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Date Posted: 16:45:02 12/13/05 Tue
I don't think this was posted before. It's an article from last July in "GopherIllustrated", a U. of Minnesota sports site. It explains something that had concerned me - why Evans's stats dropped dramatically last year in the second half of they year. I don't think he had an offer from Minnesota but they did show interest. Based on other articles, it appears that he had offers from UCal Santa Barbara, Colorado State, and probably Princeton.
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With five scholarships open for next season, Minnesota continues to search for talent and one guy they will keep an eye on is Chaminade Prep's Zach Evans. Evans, 6-foot-6 185 pounds out of West Hills (Cal.), struggled with injuries this past season and sat most of the year. Zach will have schools watching him more closely now that he's healthy because he's a long and athletic prospect who has the potential to develop into a high major player.
"Zach was injured most of this past season with an ankle problem that he battled most of the year," said his coach at Chaminade Bryan Cantwell. "Before the injury he was averaging 29 points and 15 rebounds a game. We were in a tournament at the start of the year and he was named to the all-tournament team because he was just dominating the games. But then he had the injury and probably came back too early because he was anxious to play. He was cleared to play but the ankle just hindered him the rest of the season." This summer Evans is mixing his time with a local AAU team and is also putting in a lot of work with his high school team playing in summer tournaments, practicing and participating in their league.
UC-Santa Barbara, Princeton, Colorado State and Loyola Marymount were all in regular contact this past year with Evans despite the injury. "Colorado State and Loyola came out to watch him play this year," said Cantwell. "He is still receiving interest from schools as he gets a number of letters from major colleges across the country." Minnesota has also contacted coach Cantwell about Evans. "I got a call earlier this spring from someone back in the Gopher office and they called to get all his information. They have sent him letters along with a number of other schools.
"Zach has had a great spring so far as we started practice for summer tournaments a week and a half ago," Bryan said. "He's been playing a lot of AAU ball, he's playing with us and then he'll be at a couple of camps on college campuses where people are going to see him and what he can do. Zach will also finish the summer by playing in tournaments in Vegas."
Evans is a player that has really worked on and established his mid-range jumpshot, one of basketball's lost arts. He's also began to extend his range out near the three-point line. Evans is one of the better offensive rebounders you will find in the country as his ability to raise above the rim helps him secure boards and finish on put-backs or off of penetration. "He will be a combo wing player in college," said Cantwell. "He can really get up and dunk on people or score over them when he's going to the basket using his long arms and quick leaping ability. It's hard to play him because he has that mid-range game where he can also just pull up and shoot it. On defense he's aggressive on the ball and we have him guarding point guards and two guards to get him ready for the next level. Another one of his great abilities is to get open and in the right spots on the floor quickly so he can get his shot off.
"To get better, Zach needs to not always rely on his athletic ability and height to get boards. He has to continue to learn to get better at boxing his guy out and finishing the defensive possession. Zach also has to get a lot stronger to get ready to play on the next level." Evans has been a starter at Chaminade since the start of his sophomore year.
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