Brian Evans

Brian Evans Biography

Brian Evans is a former American basketball player from Terre Haute, Indiana and he played for the Indiana Hoosiers for four seasons before being drafted in the NBA. He was a first round pick, selected 27th overall by the Orlando Magic. Evans played under head coach Bob Knight between 1992 and 1996. The 6-foot-8 power forward was on the 1996 Third-team All-American and he was named as the 1996 Big Ten Player of the Year. In 2018, he was inducted to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

• Name: Brian Keith Evans
• Position: Power Forward
• Nationality: USA
• Age: 49 years old
• Birthday: September 13, 1973
• Birthplace: Rockford, Illinois
• Hometown: Terre Haute, Indiana
• High School: South (Terre Haute, Indiana)
• Height: 6’8″ (203 cm)
• Weight: 220 lb (100 kg)
• Seasons at Indiana University: 4 (1992-1993, 1993-1994, 1994-1995, 1995-1996)
• Jersey: #34, #11
• NBA Draft: 1996 / Round 1 / 27th Overall (Orlando Magic)

Awards and Accolades

• 1995 Summer Universiade Gold Medalist
• 1996 Third-team All-American (AP, NABC, UPI)
• 1996 Big Ten Player of the Year
• 2018 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fee Inductee

Brian Evans Seasons with the Hoosiers

Brian Evans Indiana University Career Statistics

Brian Evans High School Career and Recruiting Profile

Brian Evans was a heralded basketball recruit that cam from Terre Haute South High School. He was one of the key players that led Terre Haute South to their last Final Four appearance in the single-class basketball era in the 1991 season.

Evans finished high school as first-team all-state in both basketball as well as baseball, but decided to stick with basketball in order to play for coach Bob Knight in Bloomington.

In 2016, his jersey was retired in a ceremony at Terre Haute South. His number 50 jersey was retired in front of his teammates on the 1991 Final Four high school team. He was able to share the honor with his wife and four children that were also present at the ceremony.

Brian Evans Indiana University Career

In a well documented recruiting story, Bob Knight knew that he could convince Brian Evans to commit and play for the Hoosiers. After a number of forward options became unavailable to Indiana, Bob Knight drove to Terre Haute to watch Brian Evans play, and he shortly invited his family down to Bloomington for a football weekend.

The rest was history as Brian Evans became one of the most important pieces of the Hoosiers during his five-years with the program. In the 1991-1992 season, Brian Evans was redshirted and thus retained an additional year of eligibility to play in college.

The Hoosiers found immediate success during Brian Evans’ first year with time on the court. During the 1992-1993 season, Evans saw action in all 35 games of the Hoosiers 1993 Elite Eight run that was primarily led by Calbert Cheaney, Greg Graham, Matt Nover, Alan Henderson, and Damon Bailey. The Hoosiers won a Big Ten regular season championship that year.

With the departures of some of the best players in the history of Indiana, Brian Evans would become an important piece of the puzzle moving forward, and he would improve his statistics year over year. After just averaging 5.3 points per game his first year, Brian Evans became a double-digit scorer that was good for an average of six to seven rebounds per game.

Brian Evans got another taste of a deep NCAA tournament run in 1994 with a Sweet Sixteen performance by the Hoosiers. Evans contributed 11.4 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game during his second season on the floor.

In terms of post-season, the 1994-1995 season was the one and only season that Evans did not see the Hoosiers in the NCAA tournament. In fact, the Hoosiers advanced to the Final Four in 1991 during Evans’ redshirt season with the Hoosiers. Evans still performed individually very well in the 1994-1995 season and averaged 17.4 points per game and 6.7 rebounds per game.

During his last and final season with the Hoosiers, Brian Evans had his best season with an impressive 21.2 points per game. The Hoosiers finished second in the Big Ten, but they were upset by a 11th seed Boston College in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Brian Evans ended his Indiana basketball career with a total of 1,701 points.

That final season not only resulted in his nomination as the 1996 Big Ten Player of the Year, but it ultimately propelled his NBA draft stock so far that Brian Evans would be picked in the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (2018)

Brian Evans Career after Indiana University

After Indiana University, Brian Evans went on to play in the NBA for a number of years. He was drafted in the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic as the 27th overall pick. Evans would play for a number of teams in the NBA in a three-year career (Orlando, New Jersey, and Minnesota). When he played for the New Jersey Nets, Brian Evans received the most minutes averaging over 12 minutes per game and 4.7 points per game.

Brian Evans spent three years in the NBA before he decided to move on from the league and look at opportunities internationally. Unfortunately for Evans, he could not find the some production in the NBA that he had in college. Brian Evans eventually decided to play overseas and completed stints in Italy and Japan in their respective professional basketball leagues.

He decided to retire from the sport and now he is a co-founder of a company that sells medical devices known as Precision Medical Group, LLC. His company is located in Carmel, Indiana.

Brian Evans Family and Personal Life

Brian Evans is married to his wife Erin Evans and together they have four children: Emerson, Lauren, London, and Joseph.

Brian Evans Highlights, Videos, and Speeches

Contributors: Rob Jiang