Tyreke Evans, SG

Following in the footsteps of Derrick Rose, Evans had a big impact in his only season at Memphis.

He was raised by his older brothers. Trying to shield their younger brother from the streets of Chester, Pennsylvania, the three older members of the Evans family pooled their resources to give him the private high school education they never had, helping him realize his dream of playing professional basketball.

His brothers call themselves "Team Tyreke" and have arranged for their younger sibling to have his own trainer and chiropractor, even a barber who is on call.

>From the time he was 4-year-old, Tyreke was coached in Biddy Ball by his older brother, Reggie Evans. Another brother, Eric Evans, known as Pooh, played point guard at Cheyney State University and helped him develop his jab step and ambidextrous dribbling skills. Julius Evans, a onetime playground star in Chester known as Doc, is a kind of shot doctor who monitors a routine in which his brother takes 1,200 to 1,500 shots every other day as time permits.

Since Tyreke was 6 years old his brothers taught him how to dribble using his left hand; they would duct tape his right arm to his body. And to improve his initial step, they had him playing ball in the rain and snow. He even carried the basketball to bed with him at night. "He carried that ball like Linus carried his blanket on Charlie Brown," said Reggie, Tyreke's legal guardian.

On a cold late November day, Evans had finished playing basketball and drove his Ford Expedition with three passengers to watch the end of an NFL game at his aunt's house in Chester.

Evans told police that upon receiving a phone call from his mother, who said she had finished baking some pies, he was leaving his aunt's house when his passengers yelled: "Go! He's about to shoot!" He said he heard a gunshot coming from behind, then heard a second shot that seemed louder. While driving away, he said, he looked over at his cousin, 16-year-old Jamar Evans, who was sitting in the front passenger seat and was placing a silver handgun into the pocket of a hooded sweatshirt.

A 19-year-old Chester man named Marcus Reason was shot to death from a gunshot wound to the chest in what the police described as a possible gang-related killing. Evans was never charged with any crime. Jamar Evans turned himself in to the authorities and was charged with murder, despite stating that he was acting in self-defense.

Another passenger in the vehicle, Dwayne Davis, told the police in an affidavit that Reason had begun to run toward the Expedition with a pointed gun and had fired a shot as Evans drove away. Davis said he heard another shot, which sounded louder, and saw Jamar Evans pulling his arm back into the vehicle and placing a handgun into his sweatshirt pocket. An unidentified witness told the police in an affidavit that Reason claimed that he had been having problems with some people in Evans's group.

The witness told the police that the front passenger window went down on the Ford Expedition and that Reason was shot as he walked down a set of steps.

Some have questioned Tyreke's judgment in placing himself in such a potentially threatening situation. People close to him, though, described the situation as an aberration.

When Evans was 14, he was a part of the national-champion AAU "Team Final" squad. His older brothers began to formulate a plan for his future. Together, they serve as a kind of familial Global Positioning System, said Julius Evans, who is a shipping manager for a coffee company. Prior to his arrival at Memphis, Tyreke was also featured in a documentary film "Gunnin' For That No. 1 Spot," which was released in July 2008.

At American Christian School, Evans was a consensus top-six recruit in the 2008 class. He was selected as the top player in the 2008 class by SLAM and Dime magazines and named the second-best overall player in the country in RiseMag.com. He was also rated third by HoopScoop, third by ESPN, Scout.com and Hoopmasters.com and sixth by Rivals.com.

ESPN.com rated Evans the best shooting guard in the high school ranks, as Rivals.com rated him the nation's third-best point guard. He was selected to the 2008 Parade Magazine All-America first-team as a senior after previously earning third-team honors from that service as a junior.

The Associated Press 2008 Pennsylvania Player of the Year, Evans averaged 32.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 4.3 steals for American Christian in 2007-08. He scored 50 points in two games his senior season and was named the Philadelphia Inquirer's South-eastern Pennsylvania Player of the Year. A starter on American Christian's squad since the seventh grade, he scored over 3,300 points in his high school career.

Bob Hurley, renowned coach at St. Anthony High, said Evans was hard to stop.

Evans was named MVP of the 2008 McDonald's All-America Game, as he finished that contest with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to help lead the East squad to a 107-102 victory. He was the second player in his county's history (Delaware County) to play in the McDonald's Game (first was Barry Bekkedam in 1986) and the third South-eastern Pennsylvania player selected to McDonald's All-America Game, following Gerald Henderson (Duke) and Wayne Ellington (North Carolina).

Evans also played in the 11th annual Nike Hoops Summit and the Jordan Brand All-American Game in New York. He scored 23 points with seven boards, four assists and three steals in the Jordan Brand Classic and shared MVP honors with Brandon Jennings. He also scored 11 points and added eight boards, four assists and three steals to help lead the USA Junior National Select Team to a 98-78 win over the World Team at the Nike Hoops Summit.

Evans arrived at Memphis just as Derrick Rose was leaving for the National Basketball Association. Stationed at the two-guard position, he struggled with poor shooting mechanics and shot selection, piling up a high amount of turnovers. Rather than bench him, coach John Calipari moved him to the point. After making just 40.9% of his field goals and averaging 4.1 turnovers during his first 11 games, he shot 47.5% from the field and reduced his miscues to 3.4 per game while directing traffic in his final 26 contests.

Positives: Greatly improved his overall strength and bulk prior to reporting to Memphis, playing 20 pounds heavier than he had as a high school senior … Has an outstanding wingspan (7-foot-3) and excellent lateral quickness … Despite playing with a "shoot first" mentality, he is an assertive ballhandler (reckless at times) who can dribble and shoot with either hand … Combo guard with the body control for transition play (great finisher) and the strength to execute his shot from the pick-and-roll … Capable rebounder with the elevation, timing and power to crash the boards and battle bigger players on the glass … Uses his leaping ability with force to contest shots … Still needs defensive coverage refinement, but uses his wingspan, vision and anticipation in the passing lanes to set the school freshman record for steals … Is more comfortable playing the point and despite being a scorer is an unselfish passer (143 assists) and very creative off the dribble … Has the hesitation move, pump fakes and stop-and-go action to force the defense to overcommit, as he does a good job of creating contact to get to the charity stripe, where he shows good spin and a high release to connect on 71% of his foul shots … Has been taught to play the game since age four and shows above-average understanding for the game and good anticipation skills for a 19-year-old … Drives relentlessly and is a good finisher around the basket … His frame and power indicate that he might be a "two" guard in the NBA, but with his ever-improving ball-handling skills, he has the suddenness with the ball in his hands and an explosive first step to get past point guards with ease (based on 40 minutes, his scoring ratio is over 23 points per game) … Can take over a game whether driving to the rim or stepping back and firing up a jumper, but still needs to improve his accuracy from 3-point range … Has excellent footwork driving to the basket, displaying savvy hesitation moves and is a physical slasher who can dish out as well as absorb punishment operating in the paint … Likes to press the shooter hard in the passing lanes … Few guards have the strength or the speed to stay in front of him when Evans flies to the rim, where he is capable of scoring with either hand … Does a nice job pulling off the dribble and has the foot speed to control the ball on the fast break … Creative with the ball in either hand and is especially effective pushing the ball upcourt in transition … Has the peripheral vision to make nifty no-look passes and showed at Memphis that he is capable of locating open teammates … Keeps his dribble low and can execute the pick-and-roll with a smooth, quick crossover … Has a knack for getting his hands up on time and with that long wingspan, he is very effective at defending along the perimeter … Will get a little impatient, at times, but when he remains in control, he has the lateral agility to quickly recover when a shooter slashes by him, and will generally stay in front of the opponent when playing one-on-one defense.

Negatives: Needs to play with better patience -- gets out of control, tries to force his shot or take ill-advised shots, resulting in a high amount of turnovers … His has the frame of a "two" guard, but he seems more comfortable engineering the action at the point (but has a poor assist/turnover ratio that might not let him play the point in the NBA) … Has outside shooting range, but fades away too much from the perimeter … Must maintain his focus, and gets too sloppy setting his feet, especially in catch-and-shoot situations … Bit of an introvert off the court and did have a serious off-court issues in high school … Another reason a pro team might not want him at the point is that he is very ball dominant, reminding scouts of Stephon Marbury (can create for others, but sometimes gets too selfish with the ball in his hands) … Lacks consistency shooting off the dribble … Generally will hustle, but goes through concentration lapses and will just coast at times when he should be chasing after loose balls.

Compares To: LARRY HUGHES, New York -- Evans is blessed with incredible talent, but needs to play under control. He has good ball-handling skills and the strength to finish through contact, but was quite turnover prone last season, as it seemed that he tried to do too much as a scorer. He prefers to play the point, but with his inside-outside scoring ability, along with a poor assist/turnover ratio, he might have to play out of place at the two-guard position, much like Hughes.

--Report by Dave-Te' Thomas

Named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and earned All-Conference USA first-team accolades … Selected to the USBWA All-District IV Team and the NABC All-District XI first-team … Sports Illustrated and CBSSports.com also named Evans an All-American third-team pick … Added Associated Press All-American honorable mention and was picked to the NCAA Tournament All-West Region squad … Finalist for the 2008-09 Wooden Award and Oscar Robertson Trophy … The 2009 C-USA Tournament MVP, led the Tigers in scoring (17.1 points per game) and steals (77), as he averaged 5.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists, while shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 71.1 percent from the foul line … The nine-time Conference USA Rookie of the Week finished the 2008-09 season ranked among the league leaders in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage, assists and steals … Totaled 632 points on 230-of-505 field goals, including 34-of-124 (27.4%) from 3-point range, as he also connected on 138-of-194 free throws … Pulled down 198 rebounds, as he dished out 143 assists and had a freshman season-record 77 steals … Also blocked 29 shots (0.8 bpg) and was charged with 133 turnovers … Scored in double figures 34 times, including 12 contests with at least 20 points … Produced a pair of double-double performances vs. Cincinnati (14 points/10 boards on 12/29) and Tulane (10 rebounds/17 points on 3/07) … Named to the Puerto Rico Tip-Off All-Tournament Team.

Evans started 35-of-37 games at Memphis, scoring 632 points (17.1 points per game) while averaging 29.0 minutes per game … His 632 points scored rank ninth overall on the school season-record list and only Dajuan Wagner (762 in 2001-02) had more points in a season by a Memphis freshman … His 17.1-point averaged placed him fifth on the school freshman season-record list behind Dajuan Wagner (21.2 points per game, 2001-02), Dexter Reed (18.4 points per game, 1973-74), Keith Lee (18.3 points per game, 1981-82) and Sean Banks (17.4 points per game, 2003-04) … Made 230 of his field goal attempts, ranking second on the Tigers freshman season-record chart behind Wagner (265 in 2001-02) … Successful on 138 free throw attempts, ranking fourth on the UM freshman record list, topped by Wagner (166 in 2001-02), Darius Washington Jr. (151 in 2004-05) and Derrick Rose (146 in 2007-08) … His 143 assists are good for fourth among Memphis freshman, surpassed by Derrick Rose (189 in 2007-08), Vincent Askew (170 in 1984-85) and Darius Washington Jr. (144 in 2004-05) … His 77 steals rank eighth on the school's overall season-record list and set a freshman season mark, topping the old record of 74, first set by Andre Turner (1982-83) and matched by Sidney Coles (1992-93) … Was the only freshman listed as a finalist for both the 2008-09 Wooden Award and Oscar Robertson Trophy - both National Player of the Year honors … Set a Conference USA season-record by being named C-USA Rookie of the Week nine times.

No injuries reported.

SUMMER: Evans was named MVP of the 2008 McDonald's All-America Game (Milwaukee, Wisc.), as he finished that contest with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists to help lead the East squad to a 107-102 victory … Was the second player in his county's history (Delaware County) to play in the McDonald's Game (first was Barry Bekkedam in 1986) and the third Southeastern Pennsylvania player selected to McDonald's All-America Game, following Gerald Henderson (Duke) and Wayne Ellington (North Carolina) … Played in the 11th annual Nike Hoops Summit (Portland, Ore.), as he scored 11 points and added eight boards, four assists and three steals to help lead the USA Junior National Select Team to a 98-78 win over the World Team … Also competed at the Jordan Brand All-American Game in New York, scoring 23 points with seven boards, four assists and three steals, as he shared MVP honors with Brandon Jennings.

Attended American Christian School (Aston, Pa.), playing basketball for coach Tony Bergeron … Consensus top-six recruit in the 2008 class … Selected as the top player in the 2008 class by SLAM and Dime magazines and named the second-best overall player in the country in RiseMag.com … Rated third by HoopScoop, third by ESPN, Scout.com and Hoopmasters.com and sixth by Rivals.com … ESPN.com rated Evans the best shooting guard in the high school ranks, as Rivals.com rated him the nation's third-best point guard … 2008 Parade Magazine All-America first-team pick as a senior and earned third-team honors from that service as a junior … Associated Press 2008 Pennsylvania Player of the Year … Averaged 32.1 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 4.3 steals for American Christian in 2007-08 … Scored 50 points in two games his senior season and was named the Philadelphia Inquirer's Southeastern Pennsylvania Player of the Year … A starter on American Christian's squad since the seventh grade, he scored over 3,300 points in his high school career.

Undeclared major … Son of Benita and John Evans, but was raised by his three older brothers, with Reggie serving as his guardian … Another brother, Eric, known as Pooh, played point guard at Cheyney State University and helped Tyreke develop his jab step and ambidextrous dribbling skills … Another brother, Julius, a onetime playground star in Chester known as Doc, is a kind of shot doctor who monitors a routine in which Tyreke takes 1,200 to 1,500 shots every other day, time permitting … Tyreke was featured in a documentary film Gunnin' For That No. 1 Spot, which was released in July 2008 … Born Tyreke Jamir Evans on 9/19/89 … Resides in Chester, Pennsylvania.