Tyreke Evans' commitment could help Memphis stay on top

A Philadelphia company produced 50 Tyreke Evans T-shirts to honor his commitment to Memphis. Courtesy of Dustin Canalin/Undrcrwn Luke Winn's Mailbag Have questions or feedback? E-mail Luke Winn. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Luke Winn on Twitter

NEW YORK -- As the high-school seniors on the Jordan Brand Classic roster filed out of an autograph session at a Foot Locker store in Harlem on Wednesday night, they were joined by a latecomer. He was not wearing the same Jordan-issue red jumpsuit as most of his fellow prep stars, but rather a dark hoodie and a backpack, and looked a bit weary as he strode along 125th Street. Scattered teammates began to take notice of his presence, calling him, affectionately, "'Reke!" and then launching into chatter about the topic du jour in the college basketball world: his commitment to Memphis.

It had been a long day for Tyreke Evans, a Chester, Pa., shooting guard who is both the No. 1 player in the SI/Takkle rankings as well as the last of the potential one-and-done freshmen in the class of 2008 to commit to a school. He had spent the morning mulling over his final two college options: the Tigers, who were coming off a title-game loss to Kansas; and Villanova, which may, in the end, have been too close to home. Evans faced personal security concerns in the Philadelphia area after being named as the driver -- but never charged by police -- for a November 2007 incident in which his 16-year-old cousin, Jamar "Mar-Mar" Evans, allegedly murdered a 19-year-old man. Tyreke said Wednesday that he felt, for college, he "needed to get away somewhere and become a man."

Just after noon Wednesday, Evans called his older brother and legal guardian, Reggie, from American Christian School in Aston, Pa., to tell him of the decision. A press-conference was held at the school at 3:30 p.m. to make the announcement, which was carried live on ESPNU. Evans closed it by saying he would "hopefully get some Red Lobster" to celebrate.

Red Lobster was not on his actual agenda, though: A few hours after the telecast, Evans had to hop in a car with his trainer, American Christian assistant Lamont Peterson, and drive from Aston to New York to meet the rest of the Jordan Brand team for events leading up to Saturday night's game. Aside from his teammates, no one approached Evans on the street in Harlem. Had he been in Memphis, where he could soon become the new toast of the FedEx Forum, the scene would likely have been different. Evans said coach John Calipari had told him that the announcement "had set the city on fire."

"[Calipari] said they were going crazy over it," Evans said. "He was happy I was coming there, and said as long as I come in and work, everything would be fine."

Evans, a 6-foot-5 combo guard with stellar ball-handling skills, is a slightly lower caliber pro prospect than Derrick Rose, the freshman point guard with other-worldly skills who led Memphis to the national title-game, and is expected to be a top-two pick in June's NBA draft. There is no real Rose or Michael Beasley anywhere in the class of 2008, but in terms of sheer impact on the college hoops landscape, Evans' decision carries serious weight.

For Calipari, who agreed in principle to a contract extension earlier this week, Evans is the first major piece of the post-Rose (and likely post-Chris Douglas-Roberts) reloading process. Evans' team at American Christian ran a stripped-down version of Calipari's Dribble-Drive Motion, and Evans said his promised role with the Tigers is like that of Rose and CDR -- "up top, dribbling and driving." Had Memphis not landed Evans, it would have faced the prospect of a starting backcourt of Willie Kemp, Doneal Mack and Antonio Anderson -- all quality guards, but none of them elite-level penetrators who could make that offense run in high gear.

On the recruiting front, landing Evans could have a domino effect for the Tigers, who also happen to be chasing the No. 5 recruit in the SI/Takkle rankings, small forward Devin Ebanks, who de-committed from Indiana after Kelvin Sampson's departure. Ebanks (as well as another Memphis target, small forward Wesley Witherspoon) is on the Jordan Classic roster, and on Wednesday night when he first spoke with Evans at the team hotel, the subject was predictable:

"[Evans] told me he committed, and was trying to get me to go to Memphis with him," Ebanks said. "But I still need to go down there and see if it's the right place for me."

Ebanks has a visit scheduled to Memphis on May 9. It's the last of a tour that also includes West Virginia, Rutgers and Texas. But he said that Calipari -- who knows Ebanks is a fan of the Dribble-Drive Motion -- has also been giving the hard sell: "[Calipari] said, with me and [Evans] in that offense, forget about it: We're going to the Final Four."