Inside the world of top hoops prospect Tyreke Evans

American Christian star Tyreke Evans is the nation's top unsigned recruit. Jim Owens/Icon SMI

By Kevin Armstrong, SI.com

ASTON, Pa. -- The Philadelphia policeman had a question. Unarmed, but still in uniform, the officer, who had spent his shift ushering basketball fans through metal detectors and into the Ben Franklin High gymnasium, was ready to call it a night. Before checking out, though, as the clock approached 10 on a late December night, he decided to knock on the door to the locker room where the American Christian (Aston, Pa.) team was celebrating its most recent win.

"Is Tyreke Evans in there?" he asked bystanders waiting outside the Eagles' locker room. "I have something to ask him."

Typically, the only questions that Evans fields after games are from reporters or adoring fans seeking autographs or photos. No doubt the same attention was warranted for this night's 27-point effort, which earned him Sneaker Villa Holiday Classic MVP honors. During the contest, Evans, a 6-foot-6, 205-pound shooting guard, split defenders with slippery crossovers and finished drives with striking athleticism.

After the officer knocked, the locker room door was opened by an assistant coach, and the officer made his way through the doorway. "No, nothing is wrong," he told the team. "I just wanted to see if Tyreke and his family wanted an escort to their cars. We'd be silly not to offer."

Evans was not being offered the escort to evade a quick-strike, camera-phone paparazzi. Rather, the officer was attempting to ensure that Evans, who earlier in the week had been identified by a local paper as a witness to an alleged gang-related shooting, made it to his car without incident. "I really don't think it is necessary," said James "Reggie" Evans, Tyreke's 35-year-old brother and guardian. "But we'll take it."

A little more than a month earlier, while in the driver's seat of his gold Ford Expedition, preparing to go to his mother's house for fresh-baked pie, Tyreke Evans had been joined by his 16-year-old cousin Jamar Evans in the front passenger seat. In the back were friends Dwayne Davis and Rasheen Blackwell. Tyreke told police that as he prepared to leave, he heard Davis and Blackwell yell as they saw someone approach the car: "Go, he's about to shoot." When he heard a shot fired, Tyreke said he ducked and stepped on the gas, nearly hitting a fire hydrant. He also told police that he heard a second, louder shot and saw Jamar putting a silver-handled gun in his sweatshirt pocket.

It has since been reported that 19-year-old Marcus Reason, the person who had approached the car, was killed by a single gunshot to the chest in the incident. Jamar Evans has been charged with first- and third-degree murder.

According to James and Tyreke, whose record is unblemished other than a few traffic violations, the two sat down with Delaware County detective Mike Palmer the next day at James' house. After corroborating Tyreke's story, the police have accepted Tyreke's wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time explanation and are not expected to file any charges against him. They believe the shooting to be related to an ongoing feud between gangs from the Toby Farms and Madison Street sections of Chester.

"It was weird because I am never really around the streets," said Tyreke, whose cousin is being held in the Delaware County prison. "I have too many games to play."

But in a case of life imitating a LeBron James marketing campaign, Tyreke Evans is now a witness. Hailed as the next great thing since starting his first varsity game as a seventh grader, he is now dealing with newfound infamy. "I have a clear conscience," said Evans, who is averaging 34.1 points per game. "I just hope the fans still come."

They're still coming, but with word circulating that Tyreke was at the murder scene, precautions are now being taken at American Christian games. Extra security was employed at a December tournament in Chester, but contrary to published reports, the family says no bodyguards have been hired to sit on the bench. And none were on hand in Philadelphia, when the off-duty policeman made his way to the Eagles locker room.

Subsequently joined by another officer, the two accompanied the team out a back door, walking the Evans family to their cars in a parking lot across the street from the school. Over his head, Evans wore his shirt, more for a fashion statement than for cover, and carried his MVP trophy in his right hand.

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