Wisconsin men’s basketball
coach Bo Ryan added to his 2008 recruiting class when Phoenix-area swingman
Ryan Evans concluded a three-month courtship with the UW program Monday by
verbally committing to the school.

Evans can make the
commitment official by signing a letter of intent when the late signing period
begins April 16.

“They’ve been one of the top programs; they’ve got coach
Ryan,” Evans said when contacted by phone Monday. “They were No. 1 [in 2007]. I
think they got up to No. 6 this year. I fit the system; I fit coach Ryan’s
system.

“I love the town, the fans, everything was just positive
about it.”

As a senior this season at
Chandler Hamilton High School, Evans scored 18.4 points per game and grabbed
7.3 rebounds per game, leading his team to the Arizona 5A state semifinal.

Evans is a late-bloomer,
having grown five or six inches between his sophomore and junior seasons,
sprouting from 6-foot to 6-foot-6-inches. Now, at 6-foot-7-inches and 185
pounds, Evans said he thinks he could still grow another inch or two and has
plenty of room to fill out physically.

“I don’t think they’re looking at him to come in and …
help to contribute right away,” Hamilton head coach Kevin Hartwig said. “I
think Ryan understands that, and I think he’s got to get stronger. I think he’s
a kid that they just see down the line can contribute and help them out.”

Evans fits the mold of
recent Ryan recruits in that he was lightly recruited by major programs — he
chose Wisconsin over Pepperdine and Portland State — and is a player who will
fit into the UW system by playing multiple positions. Evans said he feels
comfortable playing anywhere on the floor, from the two, or shooting guard, to
the five or center position.

In a conversation Monday,
Evans touted his length and how that helps him play defense and block shots.
Offensively, Evans’ high school career prepared him for life in Ryan’s swing
offense.

Without a major post
player, Hartwig said Evans played both inside and out and had success with each
approach.

“We had a lot of
movement (in the offense) where Ryan could use his flexibility,” Hartwig
said by phone Monday morning. “He can shoot the three, he can put the ball
on the floor and get to the rim. … As the year progressed, he got a lot better
with his inside play and posting guys up.”

Evans was on a visit of the
school March 3 when Wisconsin beat Penn State to clinch a share of the Big Ten
championship. The atmosphere around the UW campus — both athletic and academic
— sold him on Wisconsin.

“I met a lot of the
people there, a lot of the counselors and whatnot, and everyone was down to
earth,” Evans said. “The people there did nothing but make me happier about
getting the offer.”

Despite hailing from
Arizona, Evans describes himself as coming from a “Big Ten family.” His father,
Greg, wrestled for Minnesota in the early 1980s, and Evans’ uncle, Dave Evans,
was an All-American and Big Ten champion wrestler for Wisconsin in the late
1970s and early ’80s.

Those connections meant
Evans watched a lot of Wisconsin basketball over the years and led him to
sending a highlight tape to the UW coaching staff.

Wisconsin already had the
maximum of 13 players under scholarship for next season, meaning one current
scholarship player will not have his renewed. The most likely option would be
junior Kevin Gullickson, a former walk-on who fell out of favor with the
coaching staff in February following his third underage drinking ticket and
played only two minutes for the remainder of the season.

With Evans’ commitment, UW’s fall class now is at five
members.

Guards Robert Wilson of Ohio and Jordan Taylor of
Minnesota, and centers Jarred Berggren of Minnesota and Ian Markolf of Texas,
signed during the NCAA’s early signing period.