Post by HCFC45 on Aug 14, 2019 22:28:41 GMT -5
Here's the latest article on RJ from the Worcester Telegram....
www.telegram.com/news/20190814/mens-basketball-former-holy-cross-star-rj-evans-returning-to-help-coach-crusaders
Men’s basketball: Former Holy Cross star R.J. Evans returning to help coach Crusaders
MOST POPULAR
Never Miss A Story
Subscribe to telegram.com
OUR PICKS
By Jennifer Toland
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Aug 14, 2019 at 8:09 PM
R.J. Evans hasn’t thought much yet about what it will be like to be back in the Hart Center this winter, but the former Holy Cross guard knows it will be special.
Earlier this week, Evans, who starred for HC from 2008-12, was named an assistant on coach Brett Nelson’s first Holy Cross staff.
“I have a lot of feelings for that place,” Evans said Wednesday morning in a phone interview from Asheville, North Carolina, where he was packing his things for the move north. He was an assistant at UNC-Asheville last season.
“Being able to be in that atmosphere again is going to be great. I’m excited.”
Sam Ferry, who was on the Cleveland State staff last year, has also been named an assistant. Assistant Joe Kennedy and director of operations Max Ginsberg were retained from former coach Bill Carmody’s staff. Kennedy enters his fifth year with the Crusaders. Ginsberg served as the team’s volunteer video coordinator last season.
“I am really excited that we have been able to put together a tremendous staff of high-integrity, high-energy individuals,” Nelson said. “All of them are motivated, competitive, committed and unselfish. They will help our program and our community each and every day, and I am looking forward to working with each of them.”
Evans, the 2009 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and a 1,200-point scorer at HC, got his start in coaching at Nichols. He spent two years (2015-17) as a graduate assistant at Texas and was an assistant at Louisville in 2017-18.
“R.J. is a terrific coach and recruiter, and an even better person,” Nelson said. “He is a former Holy Cross player who bleeds purple, and I know he will have a great connection with everyone in our alumni base.”
Evans’ connection to Nelson, who was named Holy Cross coach in July, came through former HC assistant Mark Daigneault.
Daigneault, who grew up in Leominster and is now head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s NBA G League team, worked for four years under coach Billy Donovan at the University of Florida. Donovan was Nelson’s coach at Florida.
″(Coming back to Holy Cross) was something I always wanted to do,” Evans, 29, said. “I’ve said it for a while that it’s a special place to be. It’s where I put the jersey on, so it means a lot. I have a lot of love for the school as do a lot of the alumni. I knew I would take the opportunity if it was presented to me and it worked out in a way that’s perfect. Coach Nelson is somebody I respect and I’m happy I get to work for him. He’s a guy I believe in. It all kind of worked out perfectly.”
Before interviewing for his new position, Evans hadn’t been back to Holy Cross in about four years, so he recently took his first tour of the Luth Athletic Complex.
“I was overwhelmed when I walked into the new building,” he said. “It’s a totally different place. I’m happy it’s something our players can have and utilize.”
Evans hasn’t met this year’s players, but he has spoken to most of them on the phone and he said they sound excited and ready to go.
Evans earned his degree in economics from Holy Cross in 2012 and used his final year of playing eligibility at UConn, located not far from his hometown of Salem, Connecticut, in 2012-13. Evans missed most of HC’s 2010-11 season due to injury.
After earning a master’s degree in educational psychology from UConn, Evans played professionally in England for one year before returning to the States and working in advertising for GoLocal.com in Worcester and Providence.
It was during this time that Evans began helping out with the Nichols men’s basketball team. Former Bison star guard Irving Eggleston, who grew up in East Lyme, Connecticut, lived with Evans’ family his senior year of high school. Evans eventually joined the Bison staff as a part-time assistant.
“Then I kind of ‘got the bug,’ as coach Milan Brown would say,” said Evans, who played for Brown, Sean Kearney and Ralph Willard during his four years at HC. “I got the bug to coach.”
Evans turned to Daigneault for guidance.
“He and I were really close and I told him, ‘I want to try to do this coaching thing,’” Evans said. “He made some calls for me and I got hooked up at Texas.”
Evans earned a second master’s degree, in kinesiology, from UT, and was mentored by Longhorns coach Shaka Smart, whom Evans called “probably the best motivator I’ve ever been around.
“Ever since then,” Evans said, “I’ve been moving, having a lot of opportunities and a lot of experiences coming up with different coaches and different styles. It’s been great.”
Ferry was previously an assistant coach at Pittsburgh during the 2017-18 season and spent six seasons on the staff at Monmouth from 2011-17.
HC headed to Florida
The Crusaders will play in the 2019 Boca Raton Beach Classic.
The multi-team event will involve eight schools and eight campus-round games from Nov. 23-Dec. 7. The tournament will also feature two four-team brackets Dec. 1-2 in Boca Raton, Florida.
Holy Cross will play at Florida Atlantic Nov. 29, against Hofstra Dec. 1 in Boca Raton, and at San Diego Dec. 7.
Canisius, Illinois-Chicago, Mercer and St. Bonaventure are the other teams playing in the event.
HC’s complete 2019-20 schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @jentandg.
READ NEXT
www.telegram.com/news/20190814/mens-basketball-former-holy-cross-star-rj-evans-returning-to-help-coach-crusaders
Men’s basketball: Former Holy Cross star R.J. Evans returning to help coach Crusaders
MOST POPULAR
Never Miss A Story
Subscribe to telegram.com
OUR PICKS
By Jennifer Toland
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Aug 14, 2019 at 8:09 PM
R.J. Evans hasn’t thought much yet about what it will be like to be back in the Hart Center this winter, but the former Holy Cross guard knows it will be special.
Earlier this week, Evans, who starred for HC from 2008-12, was named an assistant on coach Brett Nelson’s first Holy Cross staff.
“I have a lot of feelings for that place,” Evans said Wednesday morning in a phone interview from Asheville, North Carolina, where he was packing his things for the move north. He was an assistant at UNC-Asheville last season.
“Being able to be in that atmosphere again is going to be great. I’m excited.”
Sam Ferry, who was on the Cleveland State staff last year, has also been named an assistant. Assistant Joe Kennedy and director of operations Max Ginsberg were retained from former coach Bill Carmody’s staff. Kennedy enters his fifth year with the Crusaders. Ginsberg served as the team’s volunteer video coordinator last season.
“I am really excited that we have been able to put together a tremendous staff of high-integrity, high-energy individuals,” Nelson said. “All of them are motivated, competitive, committed and unselfish. They will help our program and our community each and every day, and I am looking forward to working with each of them.”
Evans, the 2009 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and a 1,200-point scorer at HC, got his start in coaching at Nichols. He spent two years (2015-17) as a graduate assistant at Texas and was an assistant at Louisville in 2017-18.
“R.J. is a terrific coach and recruiter, and an even better person,” Nelson said. “He is a former Holy Cross player who bleeds purple, and I know he will have a great connection with everyone in our alumni base.”
Evans’ connection to Nelson, who was named Holy Cross coach in July, came through former HC assistant Mark Daigneault.
Daigneault, who grew up in Leominster and is now head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s NBA G League team, worked for four years under coach Billy Donovan at the University of Florida. Donovan was Nelson’s coach at Florida.
″(Coming back to Holy Cross) was something I always wanted to do,” Evans, 29, said. “I’ve said it for a while that it’s a special place to be. It’s where I put the jersey on, so it means a lot. I have a lot of love for the school as do a lot of the alumni. I knew I would take the opportunity if it was presented to me and it worked out in a way that’s perfect. Coach Nelson is somebody I respect and I’m happy I get to work for him. He’s a guy I believe in. It all kind of worked out perfectly.”
Before interviewing for his new position, Evans hadn’t been back to Holy Cross in about four years, so he recently took his first tour of the Luth Athletic Complex.
“I was overwhelmed when I walked into the new building,” he said. “It’s a totally different place. I’m happy it’s something our players can have and utilize.”
Evans hasn’t met this year’s players, but he has spoken to most of them on the phone and he said they sound excited and ready to go.
Evans earned his degree in economics from Holy Cross in 2012 and used his final year of playing eligibility at UConn, located not far from his hometown of Salem, Connecticut, in 2012-13. Evans missed most of HC’s 2010-11 season due to injury.
After earning a master’s degree in educational psychology from UConn, Evans played professionally in England for one year before returning to the States and working in advertising for GoLocal.com in Worcester and Providence.
It was during this time that Evans began helping out with the Nichols men’s basketball team. Former Bison star guard Irving Eggleston, who grew up in East Lyme, Connecticut, lived with Evans’ family his senior year of high school. Evans eventually joined the Bison staff as a part-time assistant.
“Then I kind of ‘got the bug,’ as coach Milan Brown would say,” said Evans, who played for Brown, Sean Kearney and Ralph Willard during his four years at HC. “I got the bug to coach.”
Evans turned to Daigneault for guidance.
“He and I were really close and I told him, ‘I want to try to do this coaching thing,’” Evans said. “He made some calls for me and I got hooked up at Texas.”
Evans earned a second master’s degree, in kinesiology, from UT, and was mentored by Longhorns coach Shaka Smart, whom Evans called “probably the best motivator I’ve ever been around.
“Ever since then,” Evans said, “I’ve been moving, having a lot of opportunities and a lot of experiences coming up with different coaches and different styles. It’s been great.”
Ferry was previously an assistant coach at Pittsburgh during the 2017-18 season and spent six seasons on the staff at Monmouth from 2011-17.
HC headed to Florida
The Crusaders will play in the 2019 Boca Raton Beach Classic.
The multi-team event will involve eight schools and eight campus-round games from Nov. 23-Dec. 7. The tournament will also feature two four-team brackets Dec. 1-2 in Boca Raton, Florida.
Holy Cross will play at Florida Atlantic Nov. 29, against Hofstra Dec. 1 in Boca Raton, and at San Diego Dec. 7.
Canisius, Illinois-Chicago, Mercer and St. Bonaventure are the other teams playing in the event.
HC’s complete 2019-20 schedule will be announced in the coming weeks.
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @jentandg.
READ NEXT