Tennessee transfer G Amari Evans commits to Texas

Evans is powerful with a muscular build, very long arms (6-foot-10 wingspan), and big hands. In addition to his college ready body, he also has a mature approach. He was an early bloomer physically, who developed a big reputation as an underclassman, in large part because he was often able to overpower the opposition. Within the last year though, his approach and floor game have shown clear and impressive maturation.

He’s really embraced the defensive end of the floor. While his lateral quickness isn’t necessary his best asset, his length, strength, physicality, and competitiveness on that end make him effective. He’s capable of defending multiple positions, being especially switchable up the line-up, and is even active off the ball blowing up dribble hand-offs and being diligently disruptive.

Offensively, he came up the ranks with an aggressive scoring mindset and an ability to get downhill in the open court. He’s become much more efficient within the last year though with his ability to play with and off of other talented players. He’s learned how to space the floor, make extra passes, and cut off the ball. He’s also made progress as a spot-up shooter and is starting to show some potential as a pick-and-roll threat on the second side of the floor.

While he may lack some wiggle and elite explosiveness, Evans other physical tools enable him to play multiple positions too. As his guard skills continue to progress, that versatility will only expand. He also offers plenty of intangibles with his work-ethic, maturity, competitiveness, and potential leadership ability. In Knoxville, Evans appeared in 35 games, starting two, averaging 4.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 0.9 assists in 14.4 minutes per game. A strong finisher, defender, and defensive rebounder, Evans shot just 22 percent from three and 57.5 percent from the free-throw line as a freshman, but flashed his upside against Vanderbilt with a career-high 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting, adding six rebounds and three steals. Evans also reached double digits with 14 points against South Carolina State and 16 points against Arkansas. Evans is the third transfer portal addition for Texas, joining former Colorado guard Isaiah Johnson and former TCU forward David Punch.