OSU Basketball: Evans And Ibaka Sign With Cowboys

Jawun Evans and Igor Ibaka have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at Oklahoma State, head coach Travis Ford announced on Wednesday. The duo will join the Cowboys for the 2015-16 season.Evans, a 6-0 senior at Kimball High School in Dallas, Texas, is regarded as one of the top-three point guards in the country according to several recruiting services. He is ranked as the top player in the state of Texas and the No. 21 player nationally by 247Sports, and is the No. 27 player nationally (No. 2 in the state of Texas) according to Rivals.

Evans led the Knights to the Texas Class 4A state championship with a 52-37 win over Amarillo in the title game. He scored a game-high 16 points, with 10 free throws, to go along with four assists, four steals and two rebounds. In the state semifinal against Beaumont Central, he scored a game-high 23 points in a 60-56 victory.

Evans averaged 19.3 points and 10.3 assists per game last season in leading his squad to a 26-7 overall record, including an 11-3 mark in district play. He scored a season-high 35 points against South Oak Cliff in a district matchup on Feb. 5.

Evans had scholarship offers from a host of schools, including Baylor, Cincinnati, Clemson, Memphis, SMU, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech. He chose the Cowboys after narrowing his schools to OSU, Illinois, Texas and USC.

"We're excited about Jawun joining the Cowboy Basketball family," said Ford. "He is one of the premier point guards, if not the best point guard, in America. He is a winner in all aspects, from winning a state championship in high school last year, to his AAU team going 49-3 this past summer. He is the consummate point guard. He makes everyone around him better. He's an incredible passer, a great defender, and can score if you need him to score. He's the type of point guard everyone wants to play with. He will be a great addition to our basketball team."

Ibaka, a 6-9 post player, spent last season at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Miami, Okla. He averaged 14 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocked shots per game while shooting 64 percent from the floor. He recorded 17 double-doubles during his one season in Miami, including seven straight at the end of the season.

Ibaka scored a career-high 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting at Allen Community College on Dec. 12, and had four other 20-point games. He recorded 18 double-figure rebounding games, including a career-high 15 at Hutchinson Community College on Nov. 16, which he matched at Western Oklahoma State on Feb. 6.

Ibaka led the Norsemen to a 22-11 record and an appearance in the NJCAA national tournament. He was named second-team All-Region II after leading NEO to the Region II tournament championship.

Originally from Brazzaville in the Republic of Congo, Ibaka is a younger brother of Serge Ibaka, who currently plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. Igor Ibaka spent a year at Joviat de Manresa in Spain before enrolling at NEO.

"We're looking forward to having Igor join our basketball family," Ford said. "He brings a great physical presence inside. Igor is talented for his size, with the ability to knock down jump shots. But physically, he can really hold his own when it comes to rebounding, screening, and posting up. We haven't had a post player of his size in our basketball program since Marshall Moses played for us."