SCSU hoops adds coach, loses player
By BRIAN LINDER, T&D Sports Editor Friday, July 03, 2009 One big addition. One major subtraction.
That is the word coming out of the South Carolina State men’s basketball program. The good news. Thursday, Bulldogs head coach Tim Carter confirmed that he replaced former assistant Kyle Perry with Dwight Evans. The bad news. Jimmy Williams, an All-MEAC freshman team member this season, has decided to transfer to a junior college.
“(Williams) called me and told me that he really felt like he could go to a higher-level program,” Carter said. “So, he’s going to transfer to a JUCO, play for a year, and then hopefully transfer to a bigger school.”
Williams (6-4, 195), started 17 of the 24 games he played in for S.C. State, averaging 7.8 points per game. He led the team in assists with 69 and was third on the team in steals with 23.
“He was one of the top five freshman in the league this past year so that’s going to be a (heck) of a loss for us,” Carter said. “It happens a lot. That is one of the reasons why you want your players with you in summer school. You can keep them around you, especially a guy as good as he is.
“We signed Devon McBride and Shaq Barber (two incoming guards), but I would have never thought we were losing Jimmy. It hurts. He is a tremendous player.”
Evans came to SCSU after spending last year as an assistant coach at Florida International, a team now coached by Isiah Thomas. In his 20-plus years of coaching, Evans made six NCAA Tourament appearances and was on the sidelines for Birmingham Southern when it claimed the 1995 NAIA national championship. He began his career at Missourri working under Norm Stewart from 1988-1992, and was on the sidelines when the Tigers advanced to the 1989 Sweet 16.
“He’s a guy that I have watched from afar,” Carter said. “I have always respected the way he carried himself, and I’m ecstatic to have him to be honest.”
Carter said that addition of Evans should pay dividends on the recruiting trail.
“I really want to recruit Florida,” he said. “There are a lot of good players in Florida. I want to get into Florida. Kyle Perry did a tremendous job of recruiting for us in Georgia, but I wanted a guy that could get us into Georgia and open Florida up for us. We are going to lock our recruiting in to South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Florida.”
T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be reached via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553.
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