WSU point guards Evans and Cole showing benefit of patience

A tale of two point guards

Note: Conference rank in parentheses

CLEVELAND — The first time N’Gai Evans and Norris Cole were on opposite sides of a college basketball game, neither was on the floor at the beginning.

On Jan. 12, 2008, Cleveland State visited Wright State at the Nutter Center. Evans (Wright State) and Cole (Cleveland State) were lightly recruited freshmen trying to find roles in their programs.

The game was the 16th of the WSU season, and Evans had played a total of 16 minutes. An undersized chance taken by coach Brad Brownell and assistant coach Billy Donlon, he sat out the day’s game.

Cole, a Dunbar High School graduate, was more active, playing 24 minutes and scoring seven points as the team’s understudy point guard who was once destined for one of the country’s NAIA powers.

In the three years since, Evans and Cole have become two of the Horizon League’s best. Entering their teams’ matchup at 2 p.m. today at Cleveland State’s Wolstein Center, the steady point guards populate many of the league’s top-10 statistical lists. They have helped lead their teams to a tie for second place midway through the regular season.

But, even late in their senior high school seasons, neither knew what his basketball future held. As NCAA Division I programs looked elsewhere, Evans and Cole continued to play well, search for college recognition and hope for high-level basketball futures.

They have found them as seniors. Cole is one of the league’s best all-around players, as each opponent he has guarded has scored in single digits, and he leads the league in scoring (20.5), assists (5.1) and steals (2.5).

“Especially at the beginning of this year, he was the best guard in the Midwest,” Cleveland State coach Gary Waters said. “And he’s been consistent.”

Evans has increased his production in the Horizon League season, leading the team in points (16.8), rebounds (4.6), assists (3.9) and steals (2.0) in eight conference games.

“Last year, when the conference season rolled along, he averaged some great statistics,” said Donlon, now WSU’s first-year head coach. “We were hoping he would continue that.”

Finding time for Evans

Randy Montgomery, the boys basketball coach at North Canton Hoover High School, has told the story of Donlon’s recruitment of N’Gai Evans many times. It goes like this:

Evans was a North Canton senior who weighed — depending on whom you ask now — somewhere between 145 and 155 pounds. He was averaging about 20 points per game, but few college coaches were noticing.

Wright State caught wind of Evans, and Donlon started making trips. Not one per month, but four. He would watch an open gym, grab a late burger with Montgomery, arrive back in Fairborn at 3:30 a.m. and be at a Raiders 6 a.m. workout.

Evans arrived at Wright State to some snickers because of his size, and the Raiders had every intention of redshirting him. Then, John David Gardner, the WSU guard who battled injuries throughout his career, missed 20 of the final 21 games for health reasons. Evans was forced into the rotation.

“We were redshirting N’Gai, so he should be a junior,” Donlon said. “That’s the scary thing.”

Evans didn’t play in the first 11 games, then showed promise, scoring 11 points in 12 minutes against Wisconsin-Green Bay in his seventh game and finishing with a 2.4-point scoring average in 8.7 minutes per game.

He progressed to 6.4 points as a sophomore and 9.5 points as a junior and now ranks in the Horizon League’s top 10 in six categories in league play.

“You want to make your mark and show other teams, hey, you missed out on me,” Evans said. “I try to use that when I play.”

Finding more for Cole

Sometimes Dunbar coach Pete Pullen still wonders what might have happened with Cole if the Wolverines hadn’t advanced to the 2007 state tournament.

Dunbar won the 2006 title with Cole as a starter — he scored 18 points in the ’06 title game win against Wooster Triway. But not as many scouts were in the Wolverines’ gym in 2006-07 because their most sought-after recruit, center Aaron Pogue, had already decided to go to junior college for academic reasons.

Cole committed to NAIA Walsh University in Canton early, Pullen said, because he wanted to guarantee his college opportunity. Then the Wolverines played in the 2007 state tournament and won the championship as Cole produced 32 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the two games.

Right after the tournament, the phone started ringing often in the Dunbar basketball office.

“Things just kind of happened and he fell under the radar,” Pullen said of his early commitment and Pogue’s academic non-qualification. “One thing you can’t see on tape is the heart of a person, the intelligence and passion for the game.”

Cole landed at Cleveland State and apprenticed behind Cedric Jackson, who has since appeared briefly in the NBA and currently plays for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Developmental League. As a sophomore, Cole averaged 13.3 points as a shooting guard, and he has since excelled as the team’s starting point guard.

“Last year, I handed him the reins, and I said, ‘This is your team,’ ” Waters said. “He’s proven what good players do — that all he needs is a chance.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com.