Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

Highly regarded prospect Tyreke Evans has committed to Memphis.

Here’s the report by The Associated Press:

One of the country’s last undecided high-profile basketball recruits will spend next season at Memphis.
<*J>Tyreke Evans, the most valuable player of the McDonald’s All-American game last month, announced his decision Wednesday at a news conference surrounded by his family at American Christian School.
<*J>“It was a tough decision, I wanted to stay close to home with my mom, my brothers and my family, but the school I chose was the University of Memphis,” Evans said.
<*J>A three-time state player of the year, Evans averaged 29 points per game as a senior and capped it off with a 21-point, 10-rebound performance in the McDonald’s game, the top event for high school seniors.
<*J>He seriously considered nearby Villanova as well as Texas before settling on the Tigers.
<*J>“I just decided Memphis was a better offense for me,” Evans said. “I would like to play with coach (John Calipari) because of the offense he ran.”
<*J>Evans will join the Tigers, who led Kansas down the stretch in the NCAA title game before falling in overtime, just as two of their top players may be leaving.
<*J>Evans could step directly into the starting spot vacated by Derrick Rose, who announced Tuesday that he is leaving for the NBA after one season with the Tigers. Chris Douglas-Roberts, the team’s leading scorer and Conference USA player of the year, may also end up in the NBA next season.
<*J>Evans, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who excels at getting to the basket, could follow Rose as a one-and-done member of the Memphis backcourt.
<*J>“Hopefully coach Cal can get me ready to get to the next level and be a successful player in the NBA,” Evans said.
<*J>Evans played the last few games of his senior season with extra security after he began cooperating with police investigating a murder.
<*J>Evans in February testified against his cousin, Jamar Evans. Tyreke Evans said he was the driver of an SUV from which his cousin fatally shot another man.
<*J>Tyreke Evans testified that he heard a gunshot as the victim approached the vehicle and then drove off. He heard another, closer shot before seeing his cousin put a small handgun into his hooded sweat shirt.
<*J>Tyreke Evans was not charged in the case, but police complained that he did not talk to them until three weeks later — a few days before Jamar Evans was charged