Krystal Evans has taken the Lincoln Memorial women's basketball program to new heights since being named head coach in June of 2014.
She has brought a depth of coaching experience, with a pedigree of success in the industry and a history of recruiting that is unmatched in the South Atlantic Conference.
During her five-year tenure, her teams have made the SAC Tournament semifinals four times and the finals twice. Prior to her time at LMU the program had never advanced past the SAC Tournament quarterfinals. She also signed the first Miss Basketball winner in school history in the fall of 2018. Academics are a priority for her teams as they feature near the top of the school's team GPA standings every year.
The 2016-17 squad rewrote the LMU record book while bringing the program to a new level of national prominence. The team started the season 20-0 and 15-0 in SAC play en route to a 28-5 record, which is the best in school history in terms of both most wins and fewest losses. They won the SAC regular-season championship for the first time in program history and also made their first appearance in the SAC Tournament championship. A week later, they made their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2002-03 season (and second appearance overall), reaching the round of 16.
The squad also entered the NCAA national rankings for the first time in program history, ranking as high as fifth in the coaches' poll and fourth in the media poll. The 15-0 start in SAC play is the best start by a SAC team in conference history. For the team's performance over the season, Evans was named the SAC Coach of the Year (LMU's first in women's basketball) and WBCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year. She was also a finalist for WBCA National Coach of the Year.
The team set a new school season record for rebounding (first), scoring (fourth), 3-point shooting (second) and free-throw shooting (fifth) in the 2016-17 season. Individually, Josey Harding set records for both single-season and single game records for rebounding. Her 27 rebounds at Carson-Newman are a new LMU and SAC record and she also set a new school record by having multiple 20-rebound games. Megan Pittman finished her LMU career by becoming the program's first SAC Player of the Year. She was also named to the D2CCA All-Southeast Region First Team and All-SAC First Team, and she became the program's first CoSIDA Academic All-American in March. Shea Coker was named Second-Team All-SAC, Harding was named All-SAC Honorable Mention and Sydney Duggins earned All-SAC Freshman Team honors.
Year No. 2 of the Evans era (2015-16) saw the team not only post their best win/loss total (17-12) since the 2003-04 season, but also advance to the SAC Tournament semifinals for the first time in program history. The squad dominated on the boards, leading the conference in every rebounding category and finishing fourth nationally in rebound margin. Under Evans' tutelage, Megan Pittman posted one of the best all-around seasons in over 10 years, leading the team in both scoring and rebounding and ranking highly in those categories both in the SAC and nationally. Pittman was named to the All-SAC First Team and the Division II CCA All-Southeast Region Second Team for her efforts. Highlights of the season include buzzer-beating wins over Mars Hill and Carson-Newman, come from behind wins over King and Catawba and dominating performances over Lenoir-Rhyne and then-SAC leader Newberry.
Her first season (2014-15) saw a renewed level of interest and enthusiasm for a program that had not had any for the past few years. One major challenge she had to face was the fact that seven of the 16 players were new to the roster. The hype around the program translated onto the court as the team became more familiar with her offensive mindset and defensive philosophy and rolled out to a 7-2 start that included three of the highest rebound totals in program history. Then the injury bug hit and forced her to change tack and work with different combinations of personnel and tactics as the number of active players would fluctuate dramatically over the rest of the season. In spite of this, she was still able to will the team to wins over arch-rival Carson-Newman and conference leader Wingate en route to a respectable 11-3 home record. The team would finish the season in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals with a 14-15 record
Prior to coming to LMU, she served as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in the Big East Conference's Georgetown University Hoyas, where she signed the highest ranked recruiting class in program history. Among the nation's ninth-ranked class, Evans inked Natalie Butler, who was unanimously selected as the 2014 Big East Freshman of the Year.
Long before joining the Hoyas, Evans got her start in coaching as the graduate assistant at the University of Southern Mississippi during the 2002-03 season. During that short tenure, she assisted in all areas of recruiting while taking on primary responsibility for the backcourt.
From there, Evans moved on to Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., where she trained under her father, head coach Rick Reeves. Evans wore many hats during her nine-season tenure at Gardner-Webb (2003-10), acting as the recruiting coordinator and assistant coach for seven seasons before elevating to the associate head coaching role from 2010-12. Throughout her stay, she had a hand in nearly every aspect of the program including orchestrating all of the recruiting reach, directing practice, scouting and game planning for opponents and player development.
Evans' stay with the Runnin' Bulldogs was marked by a number of noteworthy achievements. Gardner-Webb captured the 2009-10 Big South Conference regular-season championship, highlighted by a single-season school record 28 wins. One year later, Gardner-Webb won its first-ever Big South Championship with a one-point victory over top-seeded Liberty University in the Championship game. That win ushered in another program first as the Bulldogs earned its first bid to the NCAA Division I Tournament. All told, Gardner-Webb made three appearances in the Big South Championship title game during Reeves-Evans' tenure.
Evans experienced a successful playing career at both Southern Mississippi and Liberty University. At Liberty, she helped led the Flames to Big South Conference regular season and tournament championships during the 1998-99 campaign as the program earned its first-ever No.15 seed for the NCAA Tournament. During that same season, she was named Big South Rookie of the Week on one occasion.
Evans boasts a highly-respected coaching pedigree as her father, Reeves, has compiled 27 years of collegiate experience, while her sister, Kim Brewton, has served as the assistant coach at Middle Tennessee State since 2010. Reeves — the all-time wins leader at Gardner-Webb — has surpassed over 400 wins in his illustrious career.
"I truly hope that the Harrogate community embraces my family and myself as I intend to bring championships to this program," Evans said. "I have been very fortunate to have a group of accomplished coaches in my circle to guide me throughout my career and I am determined to make them proud. This is truly a happy day and I am beyond grateful for this opportunity."
(L-R) Brielle, Braylee and Britton Evans
Evans holds a Bachelor of Science in biological science with an emphasis on pre-medical from Southern Mississippi as well as an Master of Business Administration from Gardner-Webb. She is married to Jerton Evans of Fairmont, W.V., and they have three daughters, Braylee, Britton and Brielle, and a dog named Buster.
"I am both humbled and honored to follow Roger Hodge who I hold in high regard as a coach and friend," Evans added. "He has laid the foundation for continued success by putting together an excellent group of talented young ladies that I look forward to coaching. I will work extremely hard to impact lives and develop champions both on and off the court."
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT EVANS --
"Krystal is fantastic! That is a great hire for Lincoln Memorial University. She is an outstanding person, a great coach, and a great recruiter. She understands success is about relationships with people, and she is great with that. Krystal is a great person and comes from a great family. She knows how to do it all!" -
Sylvia Hatchell, Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of North Carolina
"I've been impressed with Krystal for several years. In my mind, she is one of the hardest-working coaches in our sport. She grew up in women's basketball and has a very keen understanding of what it takes to be successful at the collegiate level. I think Lincoln Memorial has an outstanding coach with a tremendous future." -
Andy Landers, Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Georgia
"Krystal Evans has the qualities of a great leader and coach. She is conscientious, dependable, passionate, organized and always has a positive attitude which ultimately drives success. Krystal is an effective leader who knows when to coach, when to mentor, and when to manage. She knows when a student athlete needs nurturing and when they need tough love. Her commitment to her values, her family and her employer is genuine. I wish Lincoln Memorial University and Krystal Evans much success." -
Sharon Brummell, Senior Associate Athletics Director for Business and Finance/Senior Woman Administrator at Georgetown University
“As her father I am so proud of the role model Krystal is to the young women she coaches! I knew Krystal was going to be a successful Head Coach since she was 7 years old when she started telling me the offenses and defenses I should have ran after games. I truly believe any parent would want their daughter coached by Krystal as she is the total package: wonderful mother, wife, and professional all in one person! She is a wonderful Christian Head Coach!” -
Rick Reeves, Head Women's Basketball Coach at Gardner-Webb University
"Krystal brings a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm to the program. Her reference recommendations read like a Who's Who of the top women's basketball coaches in America. Coming to Lincoln Memorial after serving as the recruiting coordinator for the Georgetown Hoyas, she is literally on the cutting edge with recruiting globally. All of these factors are reason enough to hire Coach Evans, however, the fact that she is from a highly respectable coaching family as well as being a quality person simply makes her the 'total package' in my estimation." -
Roger Vannoy, Lincoln Memorial University Director of Athletics
