Evans Named Arkansas Asst. Coach

Thursday, April 19th 2007, 3:59 pm

By: News On 6

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -- Rob Evans, a former head coach at Mississippi and Arizona State, has joined the Arkansas basketball staff as an assistant to John Pelphrey, hired this month from South Alabama.

Evans, with 38 years of college experience, was fired from Arizona State last year after an 11-17 season. The 60-year-old coach had a 119-120 record while coaching the Sun Devils from 1999-2006. His final team led the Pac 10 in 3-point shooting (.378) and lost four games by four points or less, with another loss in overtime.

At Ole Miss from 1993-1998, Evans led the school to consecutive SEC Western Division titles and NCAA Tournament bids. He took over a program that had had just one winning season in the previous nine seasons and only one NCAA Tournament bid in its history.

In 1997, he was named SEC Coach of the Year. In 1998, the Rebels beat Kentucky in Lexington for the first time since 1927.

Six of his 14 teams as head coach earned post-season tournament bids.

The Hobbs, N.M., native served as an assistant to Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State in 1991 and 1992 after spending 15 years as an assistant at Texas Tech and seven at New Mexico State, his alma mater.

Evans also played baseball and football and was drafted out of high school by the Colt 45s, which eventually became the Houston Astros.

Following college, he signed as a free agent with the Dallas Chaparrals of the American Basketball Association and with the Oakland Raiders as a receiver.