Sacred Heart Gets Their Man
Sacred Heart made Chris Evans their prime recruiting target coming out of the July live period. On Friday their hard work finally paid off when the Pioneers received the verbal commitment they had worked so hard for.
“Coach Latina did a great job recruiting me,” Evans told the New England Recruiting Report. “I couldn’t do fall workouts because of football but Coach Latina would still come by Taft just to see me and say hi. He didn’t need to see me play basketball.”
Making frequent trips to Taft was really just the tip of the iceberg as Evans said Latina went the extra mile, even watching some of his football practices.
“We had long conversations, talked at night, and it was easy to talk to him,” Evans said. “He’s an outgoing guy, personable with a great sense of humor and he’s always straight up with you.”
Ultimately, Evans’ relationship with Latina was only one of several that played a big part in his decision.
“Honestly I thought about being close to home and my family. I have a little brother so that definitely came into mind,” he said. “I went there and met the guys, and already knew a lot of them like Stan [Dulaire] and Nick [Greenbacker]. Plus Steve [Glowiak] is going there next year who I’m already close with.”
Evans, currently in his post-graduate year at the Taft School after graduating from Stamford High School in June, didn’t have any scholarship offers coming out of high school but proved his worth this summer running with the Connecticut Basketball Club and picking up plenty of offers in the process.
CBC won seven tournament titles last year, and while the team may have featured players who scored more or were recruited at higher levels, no one was more important to their success than Evans. He set the tone with his toughness and work ethic, put points on the board consistently, and showed the rare ability to dominate a game from the defensive perimeter. Sacred Heart is expecting Evans to bring many of those same things with him next year.
“They’re going to be expecting me to step in and be ready. Mostly what they like about me is my leadership, toughness, and defensive mentality,” Evans said. “I think I can definitely help the program like that. They score a lot of points every year but I’m looking forward to helping them stop people. You can’t play for [Stamford HS Head] Coach [James] Moriarty and not come away with that defensive identity.”
Sacred Heart has made owning their backyard their biggest priority in recruiting. This year’s Pioneer team features six Connecticut products and ten with New England roots.
Next year’s class now includes Evans, Glowiak, and former Brockton High School star Louis Montes.
Louis Montes
Chris Evans