Jessie Evans to be new San Francisco hoops coach

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Louisiana-Lafayette men's basketball coach Jessie Evans will be hired by the University of San Francisco.

Evans will replace Phil Mathews, who was fired March 9 after nine seasons with the Dons. San Francisco flirted last month with Purdue coach Gene Keady, who ultimately decided to spent one more season with the Boilermakers.

Evans spent seven years at Louisiana-Lafayette, leading the Ragin' Cajuns to two NCAA tournament berths and four 20-win seasons. The school went 20-9 and won the Sun Belt Conference regular-season and tournament titles last season before a first-round NCAA loss to North Carolina State.

Evans was an assistant to Lute Olson during Arizona's run to the national championship in 1997. He also has been an assistant at Texas, Wyoming, San Diego State and Minnesota, earning a reputation as a talented recruiter while coaching 26 future NBA players.

He will be introduced at a news conference Thursday in San Francisco. The Dons went 17-14 last season, losing to Santa Clara in the second round of the West Coast Conference tournament.

San Francisco's administration expects Evans to build a program capable of competing with West Coast power Gonzaga, the conference's perennial champion. The school recently made an aggressive financial commitment to its athletic programs, and Evans' hiring is considered a key element in the revitalization.

San Francisco boasts such prestigious basketball alumni as NBA greats Bill Russell, Bill Cartwright and K.C. Jones. The Dons won NCAA titles in 1955 and 1956, also winning the NIT in 1949.

San Francisco Chronicle

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In many ways, it’s been the worst kept secret in the San Francisco Bay area and South Louisiana.

Officially, though, nothing has been scheduled.

University of San Francisco associate sports information director Peter Simon continues to decline comment about the likelihood of an impending press conference.

USF athletic director Bill Hogan isn’t returning phone calls.

But despite the lack of any official confirmation, numerous reports maintain that UL Lafayette head basketball coach Jessie Evans is expected to be named as San Francisco’s new head basketball coach as soon as today.

A source from the Bay Area said that Evans arrived in San Francisco on Wednesday. Local radio station ESPN 1420-AM reported the same thing Wednesday afternoon.

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