UC recruit facing rape charge
Evans incident leaves Huggins, staff 'dumbfounded'

By Bill Koch
Enquirer staff writer

MULTIMEDIA
• Tyree Evans Statement (PDF)


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University of Cincinnati basketball coach Bob Huggins said he first learned of the statutory rape charge against UC recruit Tyree Evans on Tuesday night after assistant athletic director Tom Hathaway was contacted by a newspaper reporter seeking a comment from a school official.

Evans, a 6-foot-3 guard from Richmond, Va., is one of five current or former members of the Winchendon (Mass.) School basketball team who are facing charges in connection with an alleged incident last fall at the prep school.

"We are shocked about it," Huggins said Wednesday from Chicago, where he and associate head coach Andy Kennedy were watching UC graduate Jason Maxiell compete in the NBA pre-draft camp.

"When we found out (Tuesday), we were dumbfounded. We started calling around trying to find out what's going on. If this happened, he'll never set foot on our campus."

No details of the incident were released, according to the Telegram and Gazette of Worcester, Mass., and a judge ordered all records impounded at the request of prosecutors. The five players were summoned May 27 to appear in Winchendon District Court next Tuesday.

William LaBelle, the school's headmaster, did not return a call seeking comment. Attempts to reach Evans, 20, who's in Richmond, were unsuccessful.

The paper reported that Evans is one of four players who face charges of statutory rape and indecent assault of a child over 14. Another Winchendon player has been charged with distributing material of a child in the nude.

It's unclear why the players are being charged now in connection with an incident that occurred last fall. A call to the Winchendon police seeking information about the incident was directed to the phone of a detective who was not available.

UC athletic director Bob Goin said in a statement that the school "is in a fact-finding mode right now and will let the judicial process play itself out. If these allegations are true, we will not honor our commitment to Tyree and he will not be a part of our basketball program."

Contacted Wednesday afternoon, Goin said, "I'm not a judge and jury. I make it very clear that we'll let the judicial process play itself out. If it's true, that's also very clear and concise what our reaction will be."

The news is the latest in a series of incidents that have hurt the basketball program's image this spring, following on the heels of the arrest of assistant coach Keith LeGree on a charge of driving under the influence; the arrest of walk-on basketball player Erick Murray on two counts of misdemeanor assault and the arrest of forward Roy Bright on a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon. Huggins immediately dismissed Bright from the program.

"Everybody has to be held accountable for their actions," Goin said. "We've made that very clear. Do we like this kind of stuff in the papers circulating around the country? Absolutely not. Nobody in their right mind could enjoy that. We have an awful lot of great things occurring at the university. This is not something any coach or athletic administrator or university administrator takes pride in, obviously. The only thing we can do is react to what information we have."

Evans, who had been expected to enroll in summer school at UC in a few weeks, is one of the Bearcats' prized recruits for next season. He was the player of the year in Virginia in 2003-04, averaging 29.5 points per game. His 884 points were the third-most in a season in Virginia High School League history, placing Evans behind Allen Iverson and Moses Malone.

He orally committed to UC last June and signed a letter of intent in November.

Last season at Winchendon, a prep school in north-central Massachusetts that's known for producing Division I college players, Evans averaged about 20 points per game in January before an infection related to a tonsillectomy caused him to miss the rest of the regular season. He returned to play in the postseason.

E-mail bkoch@enquirer.com

Not really sure...Huggs has not even ever had the guy for his first day at UC yet. He had a clean record prior to this incident. I think they will let it play out in the legal system. . If there is any guilt at all he will never play here. If charges are dropped or he is not found guilty then why would he not be allowed to play here. He comitted to UC last June
4 or 5 months prior to whatever may or may not have happened.
It certainly does not help Bob's situation but kinda hard to judge quite yet. This is a real talent but no one is above the law.

Huggins certainly has no fault in relation to this young man unless he knowingly recruited a known criminal. If the player had no previous infractions, Huggins did his job properly.

We don't know all the facts in the case, nor even the extent of the recruit's involvement, if any. I have long been against coaches who recruit players who could be a threat to other students at the college. I think colleges and coaches who recruit potential threats to the college community should be held liable. However, coaches don't know everything about a prospective student's life unless there have been problems before. Therefore, I give the coach every benefit of the doubt until I know otherwise.

I do remember another criminal who was recruited to a BE college in years past, Allen Iverson. He was recruited to GTown, and his record was known.

JIM15068 Wrote:I do remember another criminal who was recruited to a BE college in years past, Allen Iverson. He was recruited to GTown, and his record was known.

Whatever happened to that guy anyway?