Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Sandy Creek chooses new basketball coach

By MICHAEL BOYLAN
mboylan@TheCitizenNews.com

When Darrell Evans started his last job as head coach for the boys basketball team at Spalding High School, his mission was to build a successful program at the fledgling school. Now, four years later, Spalding is well on its way to becoming a force to be reckoned with and Evans felt it was time to move on.

He will start teaching in the physical education department at Sandy Creek in the fall and he will be the new varsity boys basketball coach. He will not have to build the program from the ground up. In fact, the opportunity to come in to an established program with good athletes is very exciting to Evans, who can’t wait to meet the players and get started.

Evans got his start coaching in his hometown. He coached football, basketball and track in Burke County. From there, he went to Warrenton High School where he coached the basketball team to four region titles and got the team deep in the state tournament several times. Evans has always loved basketball, playing in high school as well as at Brewton Parker College. After Brewton Parker, Evans got his master’s degree in educational leadership from Cambridge College. His wife, Stephanie, is also involved in education. She teaches English at Griffin High School. They live in Griffin with their son, Darrell, Jr., 4, and daughter, Kyla, 2.

Evans is scheduled to meet the team and the Sandy Creek basketball boosters this week. He will be at the school this fall, teaching in the physical education department and getting ready to take the Sandy Creek Patriots into a newly aligned region 4-AAAA that will include McIntosh and Whitewater High.

“I have high expectations for my players,” said Evans, who considers himself a disciplinarian. “I want them to play at their full potential but I also want to help condition their minds so that they can be successful at life.”