Faces Of The Big South: UNC Asheville’s Nadiria Evans

Nadiria Evans is making the most of her final season on UNC Asheville’s basketball team. 

After averaging 30 points per game and shooting 49-percent from the field in the month of February, Evans recently became the Bulldog’s all-time leading scorer in the team’s Division I era.

One of many milestones during her college career in Asheville… one that almost didn’t happen – at least with the Bulldogs. 

“Funny story about Asheville,” Evans recalls her recruiting trip when she was still in high school.

“I actually committed on my visit. It was the only visit I went on. I just immediately committed because the girls were so loving. I’m big on genuineness. When I got here, everything was genuine. They told me the good, they told me the bad. But then I de-committed. Like three times, actually. Just being scared of the area. I’m from Florida. Asheville is very different. Definitely takes me outside of my comfort zone. But my senior year of high school I ended up hurting my MCL. The coaches stayed consistent, kept calling me. Made sure I was okay and that just showed me that they cared about me as a person, more than just a player.”

The shooting guard out of Gainesville believes she made the right decision. 

“It was never a thing of me fearing I would not be where I am today. I know my work ethic.” 

“You know, just taking a step back and looking at where I come from, it’s like ‘D,’ you’re okay, you’re a pretty good basketball player,” Evans smiles to herself. “It’s still just me not believing I’m there yet. That’s just because I always feel like there’s more. I can do more.”

That’s why she says the opportunity to return as a fifth year season was a no-brainer. 

“Just being able to get some more experience on the court. Being that I want to be a coach I wanted to, you know, have another year to just learn the game more, develop my skills as well but also pick up that leadership role. I’m big on leaving my legacy. And being that I’m the only senior this year, I was like, this is the perfect opportunity for me to work on that leadership piece even more.”

Evans is already getting a jump on the next phase of her basketball career, the current player plans on being a future coach.