Kyan Evans rose to college basketball acclaim at Colorado State with his six three-pointers in an NCAA Tournament upset win over Memphis, so by the time he arrived in Chapel Hill this past offseason, he was something of a high-profile pickup for Hubert Davis. Well, for all the excitement about Evans leading UNC’s $14 million roster this season, it hasn’t worked.
Some players can make the jump from the mid-major level to play Power Conference basketball; others simply can’t. Evans, unfortunately, 19 games into his North Carolina career, appears to fall into the latter category.
The 6-foot-2 point guard is averaging 5.7 points and 3.2 assists, but is shooting 35.5 percent from the field and only 32.5 percent from three. And that’s just on the offensive side of the floor. Defensively, UNC has not been able to handle perimeter scorers all year, and Stanford freshman point guard Ebuka Okorie going 36 points in a UNC loss in Palo Alto last week seems to have been the final straw for Davis.
Hubert Davis is pulling the ripcord on the Kyan Evans experiment
On Saturday, in the Tar Heels’ 84-78 loss to Cal, Evans came off the bench for the first time this season, playing just 10 minutes. He finished with just one assist and no points. Derek Dixon replaced him in the lineup, and the move now looks to be a permanent one after Wednesday night’s get-right win over Notre Dame.
With Dixon back in the starting lineup and Evans coming off the bench, the Tar Heels trounced the Fighting Irish in Chapel Hill on Wednesday night, 91-69. Again, Evans played just 10 minutes off the bench. This time, he went 3-5 from the field for nine points. Jaydon Young also found his way into the lineup, replacing Jarin Stevenson.
UNC’s lineup has been supersized for most of the season with Stevenson, Caleb Wilson, and Henri Veesaar. That frontcourt combination, along with Evans’ defensive weaknesses at the point of attack, made the Tar Heels easy pickings for quick shot-making guards. Okorie was far from the only player to take advantage.
Now, with the 6-foot-5 Dixon, 6-foot-3 Seth Trimble, and 6-foot-4 Jaydon Young in the lineup, UNC is much more switchable on the perimeter and a tougher test for opposing ballhandlers. Plus, with Veesaar and Wilson on the interior, Davis isn’t sacrificing much in terms of rim protection.
Theoretically, a catch-and-shoot point guard who is comfortable playing off the ball was the ideal player to pair with an exciting young freshman like Wilson and a talented passing big man like Veesaar. Evans helps to provide spacing for that front-court to operate, but with him shooting well under 40 percent from three and looking to be a major liability at the other end of the floor, Davis didn’t have any choice but to send him to the bench.
The decision may have saved UNC’s season from the brink of collapse. That is, if the Tar Heels continue to play well against No. 14 Virginia in Charlottesville on Saturday.