By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
SOUTH PRINCE GEORGE, Va.— Owego grad Dylan Evans has been named the associate head men's basketball coach at Richard Bland College here.
“It means a lot to become an associate head coach at any level at my young age,” the 26-year-old Evans said. “I’ve been blessed with opportunities that many people couldn’t dream of, and I am extremely grateful to everyone who has helped me and been a part of my journey along the way.”
Noted Statesmen head coach Guillermo Cabrera, “This guy exemplifies all the great things in college hoops. His new title is deserved and earned. I believe in treating the people who help you the right way and bragging about them,” adding that Evans is the best associate head coach in college basketball.
Evans joined the staff for the 2024-25 school year, focusing on player development, communication with future recruits, and creating content for team social media pages.
Prior to heading south, he was the women's basketball graduate assistant coach at Keuka College in upstate New York. He also earned his Master of Science in Management from Keuka in 2024.
Evans earned his bachelor's degree in Sports Management from St. Bonaventure University in southwestern New York. He started his coaching career with the Division I Bonnies as the men's basketball student manager in 2018 and stayed through 2022.
He assisted with day-to-day player development, assisted the Director of Operations with travel and other team logistics, and also helped the team's graduate assistant with the management of video coordination.
While he was there, the Bonnies made an NCAA tournament appearance, were the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament champions, attained their highest AP Top 25 ranking since 1971, and reached the NIT semifinal.
Evans was also a boys basketball assistant coach at Owego under his father, Chris, from 2018 to 2020, and became the boys basketball social media coordinator from 2020 to 2023.
Some of his responsibilities included determining player lineups and positioning, running effective practice drills to improve player performance, creating graphics for game days and awards, and creating highlight videos from game film.
In 2024, while working on his Master’s, he also worked as the 8th- and 9th-grade boys head coach for the Finger Lakes Fury AAU team, where he organized practices to help improve individual skills and team play, scheduled all practices and tournaments, and devised a winning strategy.
Evans gives much of the credit for his career path to his father, Chris.
“My father has been a massive influence on me in my young coaching career,” he said. “He’s taught me a lot about the game, from using salt and pepper shakers at the dinner table to simulating offensive concepts, to how to build relationships and bond with players on an individual level. I wouldn’t be where I am today without him.”
Chris Evans enjoyed a successful basketball career as a player at Owego, then went on to play for four years at SUNY Geneseo. From there, he headed to Ireland to play professionally before coming back to the states.
He dabbled in radio broadcasting before coaching at Marine Military Academy in Texas and as an assistant coach at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. He eventually returned to Owego in the early 2000s as an English teacher and coach, and eventually became the varsity head coach.
Chris Evans journeyed to the NCAA tournament as an assistant coach for the College of Charleston from 1996-1999, and before finding his way to Owego, N.Y. where he became an English teacher and coach, a position he still holds more than 20 years later.
Of course, he credits his son for reaping his own benefits.
“Dylan has definitely carved his own path,” he said. “He had a fantastic mentor at St. Bonaventure in Mark Schmidt. It's interesting that he spent a huge chunk of his life running College of Charleston action (courtesy of his father) and then moved on to Bonaventure who also has a coach (like John Kresse) who is a master at offense.
“Dylan's calling card will be his patience (unlike his father) and his ability to get his players to get far more out of themselves than even they thought possible. He is the ultimate grinder — trusting the process and the deeply held belief that preparation and out-working everyone else will ultimately lead to immense success.
“I give him the same advice each day — it's an old mantra that I heard years ago (I think attributed to Milton Berle) that says, ‘if opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.’”
Dylan Evans’ journey is far from over, however, as he has aspirations of coaching college basketball at the highest level some day.
“My ultimate goal, although ever-changing, is to become a Division 1 head coach,” he said. “I know that is years down the road and that sometimes goals change. When I was younger, I always wanted to be an NBA general manager, and that has shifted quite a bit and may shift again.”
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF RICHARD BLAND COLLEGE.
