Tyreke Evans is Shakin’ Off the Haters

Southeast/Mid-South Editor
Ron Bailey, Publisher

Class of 2008 King Ready to Reclaim His Throne

September 1, 2006 - He heard the whispers. He heard the rumors. He heard the doubters. What Class of 2008 baller-supreme Tyreke Evans was hearing were the haters.

“People were saying my defense was soft and that I wouldn’t move without the ball”, said Evans earlier this summer at Nike’s Peach Jam.

As witnessed by this observer, those assessments of Tyreke’s game were correct during the Memorial Day Classic held in Nashville, in which Evans’ Team Final AAU squad participated.

Evans seemed uninterested on offense unless he was poundin’ the rock and while displaying the myriad of skills that propelled him to superstar status a prep legend and the top player in the class of 2008, it wasn’t enough to help his team to capture the tournaments’ championship trophy.

“I am fully aware of the things I need to work on”, commented Tyreke, after astutely recognizing the weaknesses in his game.

“My defense and strength are two key things I have to improve, as well as finding my teammates better on offense and becoming more of a leader on my team.”

By the looks of his play in Augusta at the Peach Jam, Tyreke improved in every basketball facet in just over a month’s time. In short, he brought his whole game to Georgia.

Recruiting gurus have dropped Tyreke from the #1 prospect in ’08 down to #2. Evans isn’t fazed.

“I had some ankle injuries throughout the summer, but by the end of the summer, I got healthier and you saw that in my game.”

Tyreke has a smoothness to his game that belies his young age. He can just as easily break you down off the dribble as he can pull up for a jumper in your grill. Oh yeah, don’t test his hops at the rim or he’ll posterize you too.

“People were saying a lot of different things about my game. They said I wouldn’t move without the ball or pass the ball”, extolled Evans, who averaged 23 points per game during Peach Jam. “I worked on coming off of screens in the half court and looking for my teammates on the break.’

Evans averaged 25 ppg, 8 rebs., 6 assists and 4 steals during his sophomore year at American Christian.

Entering his junior year at American Christian School in Aston, PA (a suburb of Philly), Evans has been schooled by his brother Eric and Orlando Magic guard and former Chester, PA legend Jameer Nelson.

Nelson showcased his college exploits at St. Joes, while “Pooh”, as he is referred to, displayed his skills at Historical Black College (HBCU) Cheyney State.

“Jameer is a close friend of Eric’s and they’ve both helped my game tremendously”, said Evans.

Nelson and Pooh have helped Tyreke’s game to the tune of 25 points, eights rebounds, six assists and four steals, last season at American Christian, while shooting a robust 48% from behind the arc.

That three-point marksmanship was on full blast against Meanstreets Express at the Peach Jam, and in particular 2007, top 5 guard Derrick Rose: Rose is the top ranked point guard in the class.

Towards the end of the contest and with the lead swaying back and forth, Tyreke buried three consecutive threes, one of which was in Rose’s mug. Team Final would lose at the buzzer in overtime on a Rose jumper, but Evans scored 22 points and dropped four dimes in the loss.

Evans’ performance, though marred somewhat by the aforementioned recurring ankle injury (he missed one game due to the injury), was silky smooth - like it always is - with fans, media and coaches alike marveling at his fluidity on the court.

Tyreke's game flows like fluid and the likes of Louisville, UNC, Duke and Texas are hot on his trail.

Louisville, UNC, Duke, Texas, UConn, Virginia, Miami and Kentucky are some of the schools that are in hot pursuit of Tyreke.

“I’ll narrow it down sometime during the upcoming school year, but I’m not in a hurry”, expressed Tyreke. When prompted to give a favorite, Evans stated “No”, but did leave this tasty morsel for schools recruiting him to chew on.

“I’m originally from North Carolina, so I’ve always got love for the home schools.”

Stay tuned.