By R.L. Bynum
Carolina’s search for a point guard to replace Elliot Cadeau is over as the Tar Heels have will get a Mountain West Conference star who had a big game in the NCAA tournament and is an outstanding perimeter shooter.
Kyan Evans, a 6–2 rising junior former Colorado State star announced his commitment to UNC on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday evening.
Evans is the third transfer portal commitment of the offseason for Carolina, which earlier got commitments from former West Virginia guard Jonathan Powell and former Arizona center Henri Veesaar.
Evans poured in 23 points and six 3-pointers while dishing out six assists in Colorado State’s 78–70 first-round upset victory over Memphis, then had 10 points and two 3-pointers in the Rams’ heartbreaking 72–71 second-round loss to Maryland.
Evans is one of five Division I players last season than had more than a 20 assist percentage (percentage of teammate field goals assisted on while he was on the floor), shot better than 50% from on 2-point attempts (51.0%), better than 40% from 3-point range (44.6%), better than 80% of his free-throw attempts (85.2%) and made at least 50 3-pointers.
He shot better than 53.4% from 3-point range in the last 14 games (39 of 73) and was in the 99th perentile for 3-point shooting, in the 96th percentile on catch-and-shoot 3s, the 87th percentile on assists and 92nd percentile on defensive impact.
After only averaging 8.1 minutes per game and coming off the bench in every game of his freshman season, Evans averaged 10.6 points, 3.1 assists and 1.9 turnovers in starting all 36 games for Colorado State last season. He made 44.6% of his 3-point attempts, scoring 70 3s, including multiple 3s in 21 games, at least three in 13 games, at least four in four games, and that career-high of six against Memphis.
Evans has scored in double figures in 23 career games. He’s dished out at least four assists in 16 games, at least five in 10 games, at least six in four games, at least seven in three games, with a career-high of eight in CSU’s 79–58 home win over Air Force on Jan. 28. His career-high turnover total is four, which he’s done five times, all of those last season.
Evans’ heat map
Courtesy of @TarHeelsofNYC and via @CBBAnalytics.
Roster assuming all players with eligibility other than Caleb Wilson, Henri Veesaar and the seven players who entered the transfer portal return, which would put UNC two under the 15-player limit. The class for next season is listed.
| No./ Stars | Class | Player | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 star | Freshman | Maximo Adams | SF | 6–7 | 205 |
| 3 star | Freshman | Malloy Smith | CG | 6–5 | 190 |
| 5 star | Freshman | Sayon Keita | C | 7–0 | 215 |
| 4 star | Freshman | Kevin Thomas | W | 6–7 | 190 |
| RS freshman | Cade Bennerman — W | C | 7–0 | 205 | |
| Sophomore | Neoklis Avdalas — X | G | 6–9 | 215 | |
| Sophomore | Isaiah Denis | G | 6–4 | 180 | |
| Sophomore | Matt Able — Y | G | 6–5 | 196 | |
| 1 | Senior | Terrence Brown — Z | G | 6–3 | 174 |
| 4 | Senior | Jaydon Young | G | 6–4 | 200 |
| 15 | Senior | Jarin Stevenson | 4 | 6–10 | 215 |
| Walk-ons | |||||
| 25 | Junior | John Holbrook | 4 | 6–8 | 230 |
| 32 | Senior | Evan Smith | 2 | 6–1 | 195 |
W — Northwestern transfer. X — Virginia Tech transfer; Y — N.C. State transfer; Z — Utah transfer
Michael Malone’s coaching staff: Chuck Martin, Bryan Tibaldi, Sean May and Pat Sullivan; Deon Thompson will be a graduate assistant, and Brandon Robinson will reportedly have a support staff position.
Players who left for the transfer portal
| Player | Class next season | Pos. | Hgt | Wgt | Next school |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luka Bogavac | Senior | W | 6–6 | 215 | Oklahoma State |
| James Brown | Senior | C | 6–10 | 240 | Howard |
| Derek Dixon | Sophomore | G | 6–5 | 200 | Arizona |
| Kyan Evans | Senior | G | 6–2 | 175 | Minnesota |
| Zayden High | Junior | C | 6–10 | 230 | South Florida |
| Jonathan Powell | Junior | G | 6–6 | 190 | Pittsburgh |
| Ivan Matlekovic | Junior | C | 7–0 | 255 |
Key offseason dates
June 13 — Deadline for international players to withdraw from NBA draft and maintain college eligibility
June 23–24 — NBA draft at Barclays Center in Brooklyn
Schedule so far
(Other than the ACC/SEC Challenge, games without links revealed from reporting by Alex Rosinski or Rocco Miller)
(11 of 14 games)
Nov. 2 — vs. Western Carolina
Nov. 6 — vs. Wofford
Nov. 10 — vs. Wyoming
Nov. 13 — vs. Georgia
Nov. 20 — vs. Marshall
Nov. 27 — vs. West Virginia at the Dick Vitale Invitational at Charlotte’s Spectrum Center
Dec. 1 or 2 — vs. SEC team in ACC/SEC Challenge (announced last year on June 12)
Dec. 12 — at Georgetown
Dec. 19 — vs. Kentucky in CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, 2:30 p.m.
Dec. 21 — vs. The Citadel
November or December — vs. Butler
ACC games
Home and away: Duke, Louisville
Home only: California, Georgia Tech, Miami, N.C. State, SMU, Stanford, Virginia
Away only: Boston College, Florida State, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest
Photo via csurams.com
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