Marcus Evans leads nation in freshman scoring
Rice University freshman guard Marcus Evans is currently leading all freshmen in the nation in points per game. His average of 20.2 points per game is 0.2 points per game higher than that of Louisiana State University standout Ben Simmons, who many predict may be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. Evans has started all 18 games for the Owls and has scored in double digits in 17 of those games. Alternating between the shooting guard and point guard position, the 6-foot-2 freshman from Chesapeake, VA is averaging 33.1 minutes per game and has continued to mightily impress both Rice fans and fans of college basketball around the nation.
According to Evans, all of the accolades are welcome, but he remains much more focused on the team’s success and continuing to get better every day.
“[My success] has been a great story and it’s very humbling, but it’s still about learning the game and realizing that the college game deals with a lot more than that of the high school level,” Evans said. “[I’m] trying to improve on things every day and stay aggressive as I have been along with my teammates.”
Evans is used to getting national attention. By the beginning of his sophomore year of high school at Cape Henry Collegiate School in Chesapeake, Evans was recruited as a top-tier guard who could immediately help out a Division I program with his aggressive style of play. He was recruited by over 20 schools including Old Dominion, the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, the University of St. Louis, and Lehigh University.
Just a few years later, Evans chose to play for Rice because of his relationship with current Rice Head Coach Mike Rhoades, who was an assistant coach at Virginia Commonwealth University during Evans’ time in high school. According to Evans, Rhoades has always been one of his strongest supporters.
“I’ve known Coach Rhoades since I was a sophomore in high school and there was nobody else that I wanted to play for but him,” Evans said.
After spending over half of a season with him, Evans said he has gained even more respect for Rhoades.
“He’s a wonderful coach … It’s like having a friend as your coach and he gives us so much freedom to play the game that you don’t see elsewhere,” Evans said. “All he asks of you is to give 100 percent effort and go out and play the game.”
Since this has been the mentality for the Owls all season long, they are not worrying about their records or conference records as much as changing the culture of Rice basketball and gaining more and more chemistry each game.
According to Evans, developing connections with his teammates has been crucial in his success this season.
“One of the biggest things in this game that I’ve learned and worked on is trusting and working with your teammates,” Evans said. “I got some feeling early on in the season trying to figure out the other guys, when they want the ball and building chemistry and working with them.”
The good news for the Owls is Evans and the rest of the Rice team will continue to develop chemistry for years and years to come. There was a glimpse of the Owls’ potential on Dec. 19 when the Owls traveled to Albuquerque, NM to take on the University of New Mexico as heavy underdogs in the arena known as “The Pit.” Rice came out with the 90-89 victory.
The Owls may not secure a conference championship this year or reach the NCAA tournament like Rhoades hopes, but the goals are in sight and, according to Evans, they are possible.
“The goal is very attainable,” Evans said. “I think by the way we’ve been playing some of the top teams in our conference we can see ourselves being conference champions [one day].”
Referring back to the New Mexico game, there is one big takeaway for Evans and the rest of this 2015-16 squad moving forward.“We still to this day preach rising through that adversity,” Evans said.
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