VCU picked up a huge piece today with the announcement that Rice transfer Marcus Evans will follow head coach Mike Rhoades to VCU.
“Just feels right. Being home has always been a dream and looking forward to finishing what Rhoades, the rest of the staff and I started,” Evans told ESPN on his return to his home state of Virginia.
A Chesapeake native, the Cape Henry product spent his first two seasons in Houston with Rhoades, averaging 21.4 points per game as a freshmen and earning CUSA Rookie of the Year along the way. Evans averaged 19 and a career-high 3.7 assists the following season, leading Rice to 23 wins this past year. It was just the 7th time in the Owls’ 103 seasons of 20 or more wins.
The First Team All-CUSA selection opted to transfer when then-Rice head coach Mike Rhoades returned to VCU, narrowing his list to the Rams, Miami and Arizona but pulled the trigger for a home-state return after a visit to campus this weekend.
It’s official ! Home is where the ?? is #ramnation pic.twitter.com/R3ypb9sMxD
— ??arcus Evans?? (@Marcus_Evans12) April 17, 2017
Evans will sit out the 2017-18 season due to NCAA transfer rules but will join De’Riante Jenkins, Malik Crowfield, Marquell Fraser, Samir Doughty and Issac Vann as a part of what will be a loaded 2018-19 junior class.
The commitment uses up one of what was four remaining scholarships for the Rams. The Rams had one open scholarship left in their 2017 class before losing two previous commits via the departure of Will Wade. With Ahmed Hamdy considering a transfer that opened up yet another potential spot. Evans’ commitment joins freshmen Marcus Santos-Silva and Sean Mobley has two of the new faces on next year’s roster, leaving three open spots if Ahmed Hamdy opts to leave.
Evans is a 6’2 guard that can clearly score the ball (four 30+ games in his young career). He hit 39% of this threes for Rice last season according to kenpom.com and finished the year with a true shooting percentage of 58.9%.
