University of Houston Athletics
Greg Evans Joins Baseball Coaching Staff
8/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
HOUSTON -- Houston Baseball made a valuable addition to its coaching staff with 20-year coaching veteran Greg Evans joining the Cougars, Head Coach Todd Whitting announced Wednesday afternoon.
Evans will lead the Houston infield and work directly with the offense, while coaching third base.
"Coach Evans is a tremendous addition to our staff. I have known him for over 20 years and I am extremely excited to work with him," Whitting said. "His many years of experience at the highest level of Division 1 baseball will be a true asset for our players. Greg [Evans] brings great energy and expertise to our offense, which I know will translate to great success for our players on and off the field."
Evans joins Whitting and assistant coaches Trip Couch and Frank Anderson after coaching the 2015 campaign at Cougar Softball Stadium as an Assistant Coach under Houston Softball Head Coach Kyla Holas. Evans came to Houston after spending the 2014 season with the Texas Tech Softball program.
"I'm thrilled to be joining Todd [Whitting], Frank [Anderson] and Trip [Couch], a group of coaches I've known for over 20 years in the business," Evans said. "They have proven the ability to win at a high level here at Houston and after keeping in contact with them over the last few years, I'm happy to jump on board and work directly with them instead of against them."
Arguably one of the top infield coaches in the country, Evans was an assistant baseball coach for nine seasons at Texas Tech under longtime skipper Larry Hays before moving to Oklahoma State where he most recently served nine seasons as associate head coach under current Houston pitching coach Frank Anderson, who led the Cowboys during that time.
Evans began his career at Texas Tech in 1993 with the first of two stints as a Red Raider baseball assistant. He coached three seasons with the Red Raiders prior to being named the head coach at Grayson County College in 1996.
After spending the 1997 season as an area scout for the Montreal Expos, Evans made his return to Lubbock a year later where he would remain for the next six years until departing to join Frank Anderson's staff at Oklahoma State for the 2004 season.
In 18 baseball seasons as a Division I assistant coach, Evans has been part of 12 teams that advanced to the postseason as Oklahoma State was selected to an NCAA Regional six times during his tenure. The Cowboys also advanced to its first Super Regional since 1999 during the 2007 season as the Cowboys fell a win shy of advancing to the College World Series.
During his time at both Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, Evans helped produce several of the top defenses in the country as the Red Raiders ranked among the top five teams nationally in 1999 with a .971 fielding percentage.
His Cowboy defenses had similar success with seven seasons of a .970 fielding percentage or higher, including an impressive .980 average from 2012 that ranked third nationally and set the single-season OSU record. Oklahoma State posted only two seasons below a.970 fielding percentage.
In addition to his work as infield coach, Evans is known as a top-flight recruiter as he helped sign a 2004 class at Oklahoma State that ranked fourth nationally by Collegiate Baseball and seventh by Baseball America. The Cowboys secured another top-10 ranking by both publications again in 2006 before pulling in the No. 15 rated class in 2010.
Evans began his career as an assistant coach at crosstown Lubbock Christian University where he spent three seasons from 1988-90 before being named head coach at Frank Phillips College. Evans went 64-46 in two seasons with the Plainsmen while breaking the school record with 39 wins in 1992.
The Boyle, Miss., native joined the coaching profession after a four-year playing career at Ole Miss where he spent time at second and third base as well as in the outfield. He graduated from Ole Miss in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in public administration and then earned his master's in sports administration from Tech in 1987.
Evans replaces Mike Taylor, who spent the last two seasons with the Cougars, and has now accepted a position at Baylor.
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