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Message: [QUOTE="oldude, post: 3783402, member: 7511"] Our perspective on Evina has changed significantly now that she’s a Husky, but if you looked closely, Evina has always been an intensely committed athlete who wants to win. While she was clearly one of, if not the top recruit in her class, Geno never actively recruited Evina out of HS. Perhaps it was Geography. Maybe it was because Geno already had early commitments from both Lexi Gordon & AEH. Whatever the reason, Evina ended up at TN playing for HW. The disfunction at TN has been well documented. Evina was thrust into the middle of it, doing her best to fill the role of pg for the LV’s, a role she was never completely comfortable with. LV fans can be brutal, and many directed their ire at Evina as the losses mounted. Despite all, Evina soldiered on. To Evina’s credit, after an uneven freshman year, she worked incredibly hard to improve, seeking out TN MBB HC Rick Barnes to work with her over the summer to remake her shooting mechanics. We might ask why Evina didn’t work with the WBB staff, but I think the answer is pretty obvious. As a sophomore, Evina had a better year, but the LV’s were worse. It is also likely that the knee problem that required 2 surgeries at UConn, was present at TN, and Evina just played through the pain. The disappointing end to Evina’s TN career was the 1st round loss to UCLA in the NCAA tournament her sophomore year. Following the game, in the locker room afterwards, deflated after a disappointing loss, a reporter stuck a mic in front of her asked Evina an inappropriate question. Evina mumbled something about “changes with the staff” which caused an uproar in some circles. While many criticized her remarks, in her own way, Evina was being a leader, speaking out on something that everyone knew, that HW was ineffective as a HC. HW was fired and Kelly Harper was hired. While Evina did meet with Harper to discuss her future, she probably had already concluded that she had one chance to rebuild her career along the trajectory that appeared so promising coming out of HS. So Evina jumped at the opportunity to play for Geno. After sitting out a year, along with two knee surgeries, Evina is finally beginning to fulfill her enormous basketball potential. It’s been a long journey, but she’s found a home at UConn. Evina’s talent, poise and leadership have been an absolute revelation. On January 21 when Evina and her new team travel to Knoxville, LV fans may struggle to recognize the poised young lady leading the Huskies to victory. [/QUOTE]

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