Maurice Evans pulled a shocker four years ago by choosing Wichita State over national powerhouse Kansas in recruiting.
“People were surprised when I decided to commit to Wichita State,” said Evans,” a former Wichita Collegiate High standout who transferred from the Missouri Valley School to the University of Texas after his sophomore year.
The 6-foot-5, 220 pound guard takes a 15.9 scoring average into today’s KU-Texas battle, set for noon at Allen Fieldhouse.
“If you were good enough to go to KU, then it was expected you would go there,” Evans explained. “I really liked KU basketball and the Jayhawks were No. 1 in the nation at the time, but I wanted to stay and play in front of the people who made sacrifices for me so I could play. My family has been my support group forever. I attribute a lot of my success in basketball to them.”
Evans thrilled WSU fans by ranking ninth in NCAA Div. I in scoring his sophomore season at WSU (22.6 ppg). Yet after having some problems with the coaching staff, he elected to transfer, choosing Texas over Iowa, Wake Forest and Arizona.
Did Evans ever consider a transfer to KU?
“I don’t know. I can’t remember. It was a long time ago,” the personable Evans said with a grin. “I like and respect coach (Roy) Williams and the players. Kenny (Gregory) and Eric (Chenowith) were on the same recruiting trip with me (and Khalid El-Amin). They want the same things as I do to better themselves and to win. There are no hard feelings.”
Evans said the main reason he decided to move from Wichita is to play against better competition on a consistent basis.
“We had a good program at Wichita State,” Evans said. “I had to make a career decision. If I wanted to play beyond this level … if I stayed I might not have the opportunity. Coach (Rick) Barnes has so much experience. He has a lot to offer, to teach me. Texas is great academically. It’s in the Big 12, which has notoriety.
“There are NBA teams in the state the Mavericks, Rockets, Spurs. It’s a great school, a great place.”
So is the state of Kansas and Evans will have many relatives at today’s game.
“I expect to see a lot of friends and family because I have about 40 people on my ticket list,” Evans said. “I think I used up almost all of my teammates’ tickets.
“I can see why they want tickets now. I look out there and see all these fans have camped out since Sunday,” Evans added after walking past several campers to take the court for a Friday afternoon practice at Allen Fieldhouse.
KU coach Williams is impressed with Evans, who has hit 44.5 percent of his shots including 50 of 136 threes (.368).
“He gives them another athlete, another youngster who can shoot the ball from outside,” Williams said. “He’s made more threes than anybody on their team. He is very athletic when he takes the ball to the basket. He’s a nice young man and really a heck of a player. He gives them that consistency in the scoring department.”
The unranked Longhorns take a 16-5 record, 5-2 in the Big 12, into today’s game. The No. 3-ranked Jayhawks are 17-2, 6-1. The Jayhawks will meet Iowa State at 8:05 p.m. Monday at Allen Fieldhouse.
