Keenan Evans was surrounded by athletic greatness from the day he was born. Evans was only four years old when his father, Kenny Evans, represented the United States at the 2000 Olympic Games in the high jump. His mother, Shantell, was a college basketball player.
Keenan Evans, Maccabi: 'This is the type of stuff you live for'
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Keenan was too young to remember many first-hand experiences about his parents’ athletic careers and admitted that most of the stories he’s heard have come from other people telling him how good they were.
"I got to go to the track with him a couple of times when he would practice. That’s when I was younger and I’d just be running around at the University of Arkansas," Keenan said.
With his toddler son in the background, Kenny became one of the greatest high-jumpers in school history. He was the 1998 NCAA champion and reached the Olympic finals two years later. Kenny’s personal best of 2.30 meters is still tied for the school record more than two decades later.
“[My parents] gifting me with that athleticism, I was like if I want to play sports, I got to use this,”
Keenan also has faint memories of his mother playing college basketball at Arkansas-Pine Bluff: “My mom was a point guard. She was a three-point shooter.”
While Keenan could not appreciate his parents’ feats in real time, he was blessed to experience Kenny’s induction to the Arkansas Track and Field Hall Fame in 2007 and that left an impact on him.
When Keenan started to play sports, his parents’ backgrounds helped him tremendously.
“Obviously, [them] gifting me with that athleticism, I was like if I want to play sports, I got to use this,” Keenan said.
Keenan grew up in Texas, and like all athletic boys there, he gave American football a try in junior high school.
“It was kind of fun, but it just wasn't my thing. The games are fun but the practices weren’t,” he recalled. “It was hot, you got the pads on and everything. It just wasn't my thing. And then I did track and field a little bit in junior high.”
Thanks to watching his dad a bit when he was younger, Keenan was able to excel in the high jump. He tried a few other events, too.
“I tried a couple of events like the 100 [meters] one time and the hurdles one time, but it just wasn’t my thing,” Keenan said. “I actually tried the long jump for fun when somebody was missing and the coach asked me to fill in for him in the long jump… I tried pole vault. That was one of the scariest things ever. I left that one alone.”
Keenan showed potential; he said he was jumping almost 1.90 meters in junior high. However, his true love was basketball and his pursuit of the orange ball ended his track and field career.
“When it came to high school and I wanted to do [track and field], it interfered with basketball, with AAU basketball, that's starting right after high school basketball, so I just had to pick,” he explained.
Even so, his parents were always behind him. Not only was his mother a former basketball player, but his father was also.
“Before my dad chose track and field, he played basketball in high school, too. But he didn't really like his coach, they didn't really get along, because in high school he was in track and field for fun and because he was good at it,” Keenan relayed. “Then he started getting [scholarship] offers from that and he was like, well basketball, my coach makes me not like the sport, so I might as well just go with track. And that's when he fell in love with track.”
Keenan’s parents played a major role in his growth as an athlete, giving him plenty of guidance, both on and off the court.
“When it came to recruiting, when it came to how you should carry yourself on social media, and interviews, anything, they were there,” he said. “When it came to grades, they knew that if you want to get into school, you’ve gotta have these grades. The amount of work you have to put in. On the court and off the court they kept me straight.
“They recorded my games and we would watch them together. And she watches a lot of college basketball and NBA, so they were easily able to help me, both of them.”
Keenan felt his parents’ love and professionalism when they would dissect his performances. It wasn’t always easy to hear what they had to say, but in the end, it helped make him a better player.
“In the car, it was an earful from for certain games. As a kid, it's always tough to hear criticism a lot, but you got to put up a glass wall and take it. It's all love. They love you and want what’s best for you and for your dreams to come true, so that's the only reason they were hard on me,” Keenan said, before adding: “And they also gave me flowers when I did good.”
“As a kid, it's always tough to hear criticism a lot, but you got to put up a glass wall and take it. It's all love.”
Evans has surely made his parents proud by putting the family name in the spotlight again. He starred at Texas Tech University and now is in his fourth season as a professional - and first in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Despite being a EuroLeague rookie, Evans has started all but one game for Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and has made great all-around contributions for Coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos’s side and, at age 25, is showing all the signs of being a leader for years to come.
“I just want to lead the team to a winning season,” he said before the season began. “I just want to be the best teammate that I can be. I just want to be really solid, do all the little things, whether that’s getting my teammates all in the right spot, making sure we’re all on the same page. I want to be the voice, I just want to be the guy who brings the energy and gets my teammates going, gets the fans going, and just brings that love for the game, that passion.”
Because when it comes to playing his first season in the EuroLeague, Evans summed it up by saying: “This is the type of stuff you live for.”