Evans awaits meeting
Jontel “Bub” Evans still hasn’t met with new Virginia coach Tony Bennett yet, but the incoming recruit doesn’t sound like a guy who’s wavering in his decision to join the program.
Evans, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound point guard from Bethel High in Hampton, told The Daily Progress on Tuesday night that he still hopes to play for UVa.
“I think he’s a good coach,” Evans said. “He’s been winning at Washington State, but I just want to meet him face-to-face.
“He sounds like a nice guy over the phone and stuff, but I want to meet him face-to-face.”
Bennett spoke with Evans and fellow incoming recruit Tristan Spurlock by phone shortly after he was named coach last week. Former Virginia coach Dave Leitao recruited both Evans and Spurlock, who are AAU teammates for Boo Williams.
Evans, who signed with UVa over Marquette and N.C. State in the fall, is rated as a 3-star recruit by Rivals.com; Spurlock is a 4-star prospect.
“He said he had heard a lot of good things about me and Tristan,” said Evans, when asked about his conversation with Bennett, “and we were the first people he called. He was basically just introducing himself to me.”
Evans doesn’t believe that Spurlock will try and get out of his letter of intent, as some people have speculated since Leitao’s departure.
“He is firm with his decision — that’s how he’s been sounding,” Evans said, “and I guess he’s supposed to be meeting with coach soon, too.”
Evans, who some experts consider a better football prospect than basketball — he was a standout in both sports at Bethel High — is known for his toughness, especially on the defensive end. That quality would seem like a good fit with Bennett, whose teams have been built around defense — the Cougars were No. 1 in defense in the Pac-10 this past season.
In addition, Bennett was a former point guard at both the college and pro level.
“That’s definitely a plus right there,” Evans said.
Evans said he is looking forward to getting his college career started.
“I’ve just been working out really hard,” he said. “Hopefully I can get up to UVa this summer and work even harder.”
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Reader Reactions
Well, Bennett needs to immediately change his style of play. I don’t think you can recruit in the ACC with the style of offense he employed at Washington State! Sometimes “great defense” is actually just holding the ball so long on each posession that it cuts down on the posessions and shots that the other team gets, which brings the scoring of both teams way, way, way down!
But still, we’ve only made the NCAA tournament 3 times in the past 20 years.
So there’s a LOT more that’s wrong with UVa basketball than just the head coach. Part of it was the basketball facilities, and we’ve changed that by finally getting serious by building the JPJ!
Now, we have to stop using the “tough academics” excuse! We try to recruit so many players from private schools that it’s not like we’re having to recruit from among players with bad grades!
Geno Auriemma for UVA mens bball coach anyone?
Pay no attention to Cougar123. He/She has no skill in reading comprehension and must be incredibly bored in the Pullman wilderness to comment on UVa recruits. Evans and Spurlock are great fits for the University of Virginia and Tony Bennett’s squad. Can’t wait to see them dominating the Dookies in JPJ.
Looks like these guys are trying a power play. If I were Bennett, I would drop these guys. He should tell them to go take their basketball some place else, and be glad that he is rid of them. He didn’t recruit these two; they are not his type.
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