BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Former Hilltopper basketball player Jeremy Evans survived the final round of roster cuts and is on the Utah Jazz roster for the start of the 2010-11 NBA season.
Evans was selected in the second round of the 2010 NBA Draft and went through the NBA Summer League and preseason camp on a non-guaranteed contract. Utah waived four players Thursday to get its roster down to 13, and Evans was not one of them.
"Number one, he started off in the summer league and I thought he played extremely well," Utah Jazz head coach Jerry Sloan said about Evans. "He's a wonderful guy, he's a hard worker and he tries to do what he's told to do. He was guarding [Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar] Odom the other night in the ballgame, and he put everything he had into trying to guard the guy. That's not an easy assignment for anybody. But that's how you get better - if you're willing to try hard to make yourself better, which he did. We like Jeremy. We think he has a chance to play in this league."
"I didn't consider him even a possibility to get cut," Jazz superstar guard Deron Williams said about Evans. "He's going to help us. It wasn't even in my mind to think of Jeremy as a non-guaranteed player, even though he is. He's not going anywhere."
Evans finished his WKU career in 2009-10 as the school's all-time leader in blocked shots (224). He is also a member of WKU's illustrious 1,000-point club with 1,065 career points, and he wrapped up his career with a 7.9 point-per game scoring average and an average of 5.9 rebounds per game. Evans' senior season of 2009-10 saw him average 10.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, both career-bests.
The Crosset, Ark., native has averaged 7.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game in six NBA preseason contests so far, and he has logged nearly 20 minutes per game. Evans leads all NBA rookies who have played multiple preseason games in field goal percentage (.727).
Evans and the Jazz open the 2010-11 regular season at Denver on October 27.
Western Kentucky University Athletics
- Champions Climb Here
- WKU Athletics
- Athletic Director
- Academic Services
- Annual Report
- Athletic Communications
- Athletic Hall of Fame
- Athletic Training
- Big Red
- CLIMB Program - NIL
- Compliance
- Facilities
- Financial Reports
- For Students
- Student Employment
- Forms/Requests
- Book Big Red
- Donation Requests
- Site Feedback
- For Fans
- Hilltopper Highlights
- Gameday Promotions
- Alumni Tailgates
- Big Red's Rascals
- Basketball Gameday
- Football Gameday
- Mobile Tickets
- Travel Center
- Tickets
- Give
