Mundelein girls basketball coach Evans decides to retire

On their way back from Canada last June, Mundelein girls basketball coach Brian Evans and his favorite fishing partner enjoyed a heart-to-heart talk.

That's what a father and son do.

Every year, Evans and his dad drove north and crossed the border into Canada to fish, laugh and hang out. Recently, Evans' wife, Linda, the couple's daughter, Brooke, and Brooke's husband tagged along too.

"Coming back from the fishing trip, I go to my dad, 'You know, we don't get to spend enough time fishing together,' " Evans said. "We go in early June. Then we don't get to go fishing again until right before school starts in August because basketball takes up all summer - camps, leagues, tournaments, the morning shooting program that we have. I said, 'I think this might be my last year coaching.' "

Two months later, Evans' dad passed away suddenly.

"I told everybody that I think that was his way to prevent me from stop coaching," Evans said.

In the end, though, Evans followed his heart. And, yes, family ultimately influenced his decision to announce this week that he was "retiring" from coaching. Brooke, who played four varsity seasons for her dad at Mundelein, is graduating from college in Indiana.

"Everybody's thinking that (the decision to retire) is because we had a disappointing season," said Evans, whose Mustangs lost 19 games this past season. "It's really not that at all."

Evans, a member of the wellness department at MHS, will continue to teach. He's four years away from retirement. He recently reached a milestone of 400 wins. His 24 seasons on the bench included stints at Durand and Hononegah, where he coached both boys and girls. He amassed a 400-310 record, including a 276-201 mark at Mundelein, where he's been since 1998. His teams won seven regional titles.

"Brian Evans was a classy, old-school coach," Lake Zurich coach Chris Bennett said. "He did everything the right way. From running a classic motion offense with a man-to-man defense to scouting in person, not on film. We all demand that our players work hard. Great head coaches will honor their players commitment by working just as hard. That was what Brian always did."

Under Evans, Mundelein enjoyed six 20-win seasons. The Mustangs went 20-9 two seasons ago, before posting an 11-19 record this past season. It marked their fourth losing campaign in five years.

"Trust me, I love coaching," Evans said. "This was a hard, hard decision. It wasn't like, 'Well, we had a bad year so I'm quitting.' I've had some bad years in the past and quitting never came across my mind. But when my dad passed way, it made me start thinking that there's no price tag you can put on time."

Evans, a graduate of Crown High School in Carpentersville (now Dundee-Crown), is the second highly regarded girls basketball coach the North Suburban Conference has lost since the end of the regular season, following Stevenson's decision not to bring back Tom Dineen.

"The kids of Lake County have lost two great coaches in the past week," Bennett said. "It's a shame. I will miss competing against both of them."

Evans graduated from Rockford College in 1984. He started coaching high school basketball that winter. Which means he hasn't had a Christmas break in 30 years.

So where is he going for Christmas this year?

"We're not going to be here, I'll tell you that," Evans said. "Even if it's central Illinois, we're going somewhere."