Niko Medved and his Colorado State staff are deeply rooted in the midwest.
Over the years that’s served as a recruiting advantage for the Rams, as CSU has landed significant talent from Illinois, Minnesota and Nebraska, to name a few.
On Monday the Rams picked up a verbal commitment from the midwest once again. Kyan Evans, a 6-foot-2, 170-pound guard from Kansas City, Missouri announced that he is “100% committed” to the Rams across his social media platforms. He is the first verbal for CSU in the 2023 cycle.
Evans was originally offered by the Rams in July and according to his recruiting profile on 247Sports, the senior guard out of Staley High School has nine other offers, including Indiana State, Illinois-Chicago and Valparaiso. Based on his resume though, it could be argued that he is currently being underrated.
Over the course of his high school career Evans has averaged 13 points, five assists and four rebounds per game, all of which are solid figures. But what’s even more impressive is how efficient of a scorer he has consistently been as a guard. Evans has attempted 843 shots over the last three seasons and he’s made nearly half of them (404). He’s scoring at all levels too, shooting 41% on 405 3-point attempts and 54% on 438 2-point field goals.
Considering he does not have the stature to just bully guys in the paint and juice the numbers, Evans’ offensive stats are pretty insane. They demonstrate that he recognizes shot quality and when he’s better suited to dish the rock to a teammate as well.
On the defensive side of things he has averaged a pair of steals per game over his career, but it should be noted that he doubled his season total from his sophomore to his junior year. Evans also recorded career-high totals in blocks, defensive rebounds and offensive rebounds in 2021-22, an encouraging sign for someone coming into a program that’s prided itself on defensive improvement and team rebounding since Medved came to town.
As far as his fit as the D1 level goes, Evans appears to be a natural point guard, though he is a good enough scorer to be a two. He is explosive on the drive, has a smooth handle and is capable of creating both for himself and others. He has a smooth jump shot that he gets up quickly, especially if a defender gives him a little too much space. And he’s just the type of player that exhausts opposing defenders for being so quick and slippery.
Obviously nothing is set in stone until he signs his name on the dotted line, but it’s easy to see what Medved and Co. like about Evans.
It will be interesting to see who else ends up being in the mix in the 2023 cycle.
