Former DV guard Evans -- now of Hamilton -- en route to Wisconsin

Ryan Evans has turned out to be a pretty good rebounder.

And not just on the basketball court.

The Ahwatukee Foothills resident and Chandler Hamilton High School senior has gone from being cut from the team in his sophomore season to getting a scholarship to play basketball at the University of Wisconsin.

Evans, who played only a few minutes as a freshman, was cut from the Desert Vista basketball team as a sophomore.

"I thought I had a good tryout," the 6-foot-6, 185-pound Evans said, "but they ended up cutting me."

That season Michael Proctor, Barrett Robbins and Gerrell Robinson, who later transferred to Hamilton to play football, were also Desert Vista sophomores.

Since he didn't play as a sophomore he was able to transfer to Hamilton without sitting out a season.

But making the cut this time wouldn't be easy either.

The Huskies were loaded with nine seniors two years ago when Evans tried out to make the team.

"It was an opportunity that came along when it seemed like I had nothing going for me," Evans said.

"Coach (Kevin) Hartwig gave me a chance I never thought I'd be getting in my first year at Hamilton," he added. "We were senior heavy and probably the deepest team in the state my junior year."

But even though he realized it might be his last shot at playing a game he loved, Evans was ready to show what he had to offer.

"I knew I had to take advantage because you don't get that option very often," he added.

Evans ended up being the Huskies' leading rebounder, averaging 4.5 a game, and was the fourth leading scorer with 8.5 points a game on a team that went 25-5 and ran the table in 5-A Division I Fiesta region with a 10-1 record.

This season Evans was the team's top scorer, averaging 18.4 points a game, while also leading the Huskies on the boards with 7.3 rebounds. Hamilton was 21-11 and reached the state finals before losing to Phoenix St. Mary's.

Ironically, Desert Vista won the state championship.

But after missing his first two years of high school basketball, and transferring, he had fallen under the recruiting radar.

Evans made up for lost time by sending out some DVD discs to colleges.

Illinois, Purdue, Oregon, Santa Clara, Portland and Long Beach State also watched the DVD and started calling, but Evans' play had already caught the eye of Wisconsin assistant coach Howard Moore.

The Badgers made arrangements to catch Evans in person toward the end of the high school season and signed him to a Letter of Intent.

He will be one of five recruits this fall for the Badgers, who are projecting him as a shooting guard or small forward.

"Everything worked out wonderfully," Evans' father, Greg, said. "His confidence could have been killed, but instead it inspired him to show what he could do, and then some."