I'm not a guy that's really athletic and going to get up and block your shot, so taking a charge is the next best option. – Lew Evans
LOGAN — Defensively, Utah State's Lew Evans has a propensity for being in the right place at the right time.
Of course, that also means the junior forward's head and face are often in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"I've never seen a guy get hit more in the face," USU head coach Tim Duryea declares.
In seemingly every game Evans has played this season for the Aggies, the Salt Lake City native has had to take a minute to collect himself after being clobbered by an elbow or poked in the eye by a wayward finger. Evans also missed USU's game against Air Force with concussion-like symptoms after hitting the back of his head on the floor during practice two days before a sluggish outing at New Mexico.
"Lew is a tremendous charge taker — he's the best we have," Duryea says. "He's a very aware defender, so he gets himself into a position where he can take a charge. You can't be a charge taker if you're not an aware defender and get to a spot early enough where you can take a charge."
Currently in his first season on the court for the Aggies, the 6-foot-9, 230-pound Evans leads USU in charges taken with 11. He's also surely leading the team in facial cuts and bruises and seems destined to have to wear a protective mask, sooner or later.
"I'm not a guy that's really athletic and going to get up and block your shot, so taking a charge is the next best option," Evans says. "And I do take a lot of shots in the face. I think it's just because of the way I play.
"… I think the worst I've been hit this year was by North Dakota State's big man. He was driving and trying to get me off of him, so he throw one ’bow that got me right in the cheek, and then he threw two more ’bows as he was going up and got me on the top of the head.
"I still have a knot up there, but I'm good," Evans adds.
Although he played at Highland High School, where he helped lead the Rams to the 4A state title in 2010-11, Evans took a very circuitous route to get to Utah State University. After averaging 15 points and nine rebounds as a senior at Highland, he took the advice of Nick Paulos, a friend from Olympus High, and enrolled at New Hampton School in New Hampshire following graduation.
Evans says he was recruited by some junior colleges and Division II schools, but he thought he had more potential. "But I was still like 6-5, very awkward and needed some muscle on my body."
Evans ended up averaging 10 points and six rebounds for a very good New Hampton team that also featured current Portland Trail Blazer forward Noah Vonleh and Notre Dame forward Zach Auguste. That season ended up improving Evans' collegiate options to some Division I schools, but most of them were back East like New Hampshire, Vermont, Quinnipiac and Elon.
"So, I was getting some interest, but nothing out West," Evans says. "I had an AAU coach suggest that I go to a JUCO for a year, so I kind of took a risk and passed on Division I."
Evans ended up signing with Casper College in eastern Wyoming, where he put up 10 points and seven rebounds over 30 games. But while he was there, he drew the attention of the head coach at Tulsa — college basketball legend Danny Manning. Manning's son, Evan, was Evans' roommate at New Hampton, so "(Danny Manning) said, 'Why wouldn't you come there to play? You know me — you lived with my kid — and this is like family here.'"
Evans says he liked that "family" feeling, so he signed with the Golden Hurricane, and ended up having a strong season in 2013-14, making 22 starts and averaging 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds for a team that went 21-13 and won the Conference USA postseason before losing to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately for Evans, Manning's second season was too successful, and the former Kansas superstar was lured away by Wake Forest even though Tulsa was going to have all five starters back as juniors. Frank Haith was then hired to replace Manning, and after a couple of workouts and conversations with the former Missouri head coach, Evans says he "didn't feel comfortable" and decided to transfer.
Recruited by South Dakota, North Dakota and UC Santa Barbara, Evans ended up signing with the Aggies after being contacted by USU assistant Chris Jones, who had coached him long ago on an AAU team. It also helped that former Utah State guard Sam Orchard, a neighbor, friend and Highland Rams teammate, was an Aggie at the time.
"I also wanted to come here because of the talent level in the Mountain West," Evans says. "I didn't come here just because I wanted to be close to home. It was more that I was committing to a school in a good conference with a coach that was very successful in Stew Morrill."
Due to Morrill's retirement after last season, Evans has now been coached by six different head coaches over the last six years as he's moved around the country. The son of Matt and Dayna Evans has also played everywhere from the three spot to the five, and took on a much bigger role with the Aggies this year when forward David Collette quit the program two days before the start of the season.
Evans, who made eight starts in USU's first 21 games, is averaging 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 19.6 minutes per game this year, while shooting 42.3 percent from the field and 35.6 percent from 3-point range. He also leads the team in made free throws with 51, and put up a career-high 22 points in USU's narrow loss to San Diego State on Jan. 2.
That game highlighted Evans' ability to shoot from the perimeter — he knocked down four 3-pointers — and create mismatches with opposing centers. But Duryea says he would also like to see his junior forward "play a little bit bigger" and improve his post defense.
"Lew's played a lot of places and in a lot of different systems," Duryea continues. "And I think the main thing is that offensively, he views himself a shooter first and foremost, where I'd like to see him view it as playing from the block to 3-point line as opposed to from the 3-point line to the block."
Because of USU's lack of available big men, Evans says he is playing out of position a lot this season.
"I'm more of a four — a pick and pop," he says. "But I think that's kind of advantage for me and the team because most fives want to sit in the paint and block shots, so it helps open up some lanes for us when they have to come out and guard on the perimeter."
The Aggies, who have dropped five games in a row heading into Tuesday night's game against New Mexico, certainly could use another big game from Evans, who says its been a season of "ups and downs." Currently sitting at 11-11 and tied for ninth place in the Mountain West, it's another bump on Lew Evans' rather unique basketball career.
"It has been a long journey," Evans proclaims with a nod and a small smile.