April 20, 1999
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Arizona State University head coach Rob Evans will serve as head coach of the 1999 USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Team, and will be assisted by Penn State University (Pa.) head mentor Jerry Dunn and Wake Forest University (N.C.) head coach Dave Odom, the USA Basketball Men's Collegiate Committee announced today.
The Sixth FIBA Men's Junior World Championship will be held July 15-25 in Porto, Almada, Aveiro, Faro, and Lisbon, Portugal. The United States will tip off its preliminary round play in the tournament's Group B July 15 against China, will continue preliminary round play July 16 against defending Junior World Champion Greece, and will conclude preliminary round competition July 17 against Egypt. All of the USA's preliminary round games will be held in Almada, Portugal. The first and second place teams from each of the four preliminary round groups will qualify for the medal round quarterfinals, from which teams advance into the tournament semifinals and finals.
In its five previous FIBA Men's Junior World Championship appearances, the USA has compiled a 31-8 (.795) record that includes three gold medals and one silver medal. In 1979, 1983, and 1991, the U.S. brought home the gold, and returned with a silver medal in 1987.
For the second consecutive summer, Evans will be coaching along a USA Basketball team's sidelines. Last summer, Evans was an assistant coach on the gold medal winning USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Qualifying Team, which qualified the United States for the FIBA Junior World Championship, tallied a 6-0 record and won its games by an average of 37.2 points at the COPABA Junior World Championship Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
"I'm extremely honored to be selected as the head coach and to represent the United States. In all of my coaching experiences, getting a chance to be a part of last year's staff was truly one of my greatest thrills. To have the chance to now be the head coach is outstanding. I look forward to working with the players, the excellent assistants and all of the people associated with USA Basketball," Evans said.
In seven seasons (1992-99) as a collegiate head coach, Evans has totaled a 100-97 (.508) career record. Having recently completed his first season (1998-99) at Arizona State, Evans guided the Sun Devils to a 14-16 record. In 1999-2000, Evans' Sun Devils will feature the Pacific-10 Conference's leading returning scorer, guard Eddie House (18.9 ppg.). Evans' first recruiting class at ASU has been rated as highly as the nation's No. 5 class, as well.
Prior to taking the reins at ASU, Evans spent six seasons (1992-98) as head coach at the University of Mississippi, where he tallied an 86-81 (.515) record that included NCAA Tournament appearances in 1997 and 1998 -- the first consecutive NCAA Tournament at-large bids in school history. Over Evans' final two seasons in Oxford, he coached the Rebels to a 42-16 (.724) record that marked the program's first consecutive 20-win seasons since 1936-37 and 1937-38. Under Evans, Mississippi won Southeastern Conference (SEC) West Division titles in 1997 and 1998, and Evans was named SEC Coach of the Year following the 1996-97 season. Following the 1996-97 season, Evans was tabbed as National Coach of the Year by College Hoops Insider.
Evans began his coaching career at his alma mater, New Mexico State, where he spent seven seasons (1968-75) as an assistant to Lou Henson. During that time, the Aggies advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 1970. He then moved to Texas Tech University and spent 15 seasons (1975-90) there as an assistant coach to Gerald Myers. During his stint in Lubbock, the Red Raiders posted 11 winning seasons, 242 wins, and made NCAA Tournament appearances in 1975, 1985, and 1986. Evans then spent two seasons (1990-92) as an assistant to Eddie Sutton at Oklahoma State University, where he helped recruit several members of OSU's 1995 NCAA Final Four team.
A 1968 graduate of New Mexico State University, Evans was the Aggies' captain in 1966-67, and was selected the school's Most Outstanding Athlete in 1967. In 1993, Evans was inducted into the NMSU Athletic Hall of Fame. He was also an outstanding baseball player, having been drafted by the Houston Colt 45's (now the Houston Astros) in 1964.
Dunn recently completed his fourth season (1995-99) as head coach at Penn State, where he has forged a 63-51 (.553) record. In 1995-96, his first season along the PSU sidelines, the Nittany Lions roared to a 21-7 (.750) record and an NCAA Tournament berth. Two years later, in 1997-98, Dunn's squad tallied a 19-13 record that was highlighted by run to the title game of the postseason National Invitational Tournament (NIT). In 1998-99, Penn State finished with a 13-14 record, but 12 of its losses were by 10 points or fewer, and seven of those losses were by six points or fewer.
"I am flattered that a committee of my peers would think so much of the Penn State program and our staff that they would give me the opportunity to coach with the USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Team. This is a great opportunity to work with some of the United States' promising young players, and also to enhance the visibility and stature of the Penn State program," said Dunn, who is serving his first USA Basketball coaching assignment.
An assistant coach for 12 seasons (1983-95) at Penn State before taking over as head coach just prior to the 1995-96 season, Dunn directed the Nittany Lions to 13 straight wins to open the season, and the team was ranked as high as No. 9 in the Associated Press (AP) poll. Additionally, PSU was nationally ranked in the AP poll for a school record 10 consecutive weeks during 1995-96. Following the season, Dunn was honored as the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 3 Coach of the Year, and finished fifth in the AP's National Coach of the Year balloting.
Before his arrival in State College, Dunn spent six seasons (1977-83) as an assistant coach at George Mason University (Va.) under former GMU head mentors John Linn and Joe Harrington. A 1980 graduate of George Mason, Dunn also enjoyed a successful basketball career at Casper College (Wyo.), from which he received his associate's degree.
A three-time Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Coach of the Year (1995, 1994, 1991), Odom has assembled a 237-149 (.614) career record in 13 years (1979-82, 1989-99) as a collegiate head coach. In 10 seasons (1989-99) at Wake Forest University, Odom owns a 199-107 (.650) mark.
Under Odom, the Demon Deacons have made nine consecutive postseason appearances, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, won two ACC titles (1996, 1995), and reached the Elite Eight of the 1996 NCAA Tournament. Honored as the Columbus (Ohio) Touchdown Club's 1995 National Coach of the Year, Odom has been named NABC District Coach of the Year three times.
"I feel fortunate and honored to have been selected to help coach the USA Basketball Men's Junior World Championship Team this summer," Odom said. "Competing for a world championship and representing the United States are first time experiences for me, experiences that I look forward to with a great deal of enthusiasm."
Serving his first USA Basketball coaching assignment, Odom previously spent seven years (1982-89) as an assistant coach at the University of Virginia under Terry Holland. Odom's first head coaching assignment came at East Carolina University (N.C.), where he served from 1979-82 and totaled a 38-42 mark. Odom began his collegiate coaching career at Wake Forest, where he served as an assistant from 1976-79. Additionally, he served as head coach at Durham High School (N.C.) from 1972-76, and as head coach at Goldsboro High School (N.C.) from 1967-69.
A 1965 graduate of Guilford College (N.C.), Odom received his master's degree in education from East Carolina in 1969.
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