CUSA Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)

16. Marcus Evans

Evans is a 6’2 point guard from Chesapeake, Virginia who was recruited to Rice by Mike Rhoades, becoming a major part of his first recruiting class as a head coach. Evans starred for two seasons with the Owls before transferring to VCU, following his head coach who had taken that job in 2017. Regardless, those two years at Rice were pretty special.

Dominant right out of the gate, Evans averaged 21.4 points and 4.0 rebounds as a freshman, becoming one of the nation’s most impactful young scorers. He had at least 27 points in six of Rice’s final seven games, playing his best ball down the stretch. During his sophomore season, Evans averaged 19.0 points and 3.7 assists per game and helped lead a revival at Rice, with the Owls winning 23 games, more than doubling the total from the year before.

The CUSA Rookie of the Year and a two-time First Team All-CUSA nominee, Evans was a major weapon in this conference. He was undoubtedly one of the league’s best young scorers in recent memory and also led the CUSA in steals during his freshman year, landing a place on the All-Defense squad too. He was also responsible for Rice’s best single season in recent memory, getting the Owls to the CBI and scoring a ton of points in the process.