Mary Perry Evans served as an assistant women's basketball coach at Youngstown State during the 2012-13 season, the program's final season under head coach Bob Boldon.
Evans came to Youngstown with nine years of experience at the Division I level, including the last five at her alma mater, Georgia Southern University. She also coached in the Big East at Seton Hall for four years in helping the Pirates earn two WNIT berths.
“Mary will be a great addition to our staff, and I’m excited about how we’ll progress with her as part of our program,” Boldon said. “She has a great understanding of the game and will pick up our offensive concepts quickly. She also has a very good defensive mind and will have an immediate impact on that side of the ball.”
“Most importantly Mary is a great recruiter,” Boldon added. “She has done a great job of establishing relationships with high school and summer coaches over her nine seasons as a Division I assistant coach. She will enable us to cover more area in our recruiting scope”
The Eagles won 72 games in her five years on the bench and improved their RPI to as high as 143. They showed steady improvement on the offensive end, particularly in shooting percentage, 3-point shooting and turnovers. Georgia Southern set a school record with 192 3-pointers in the 2010-11 season. Evans coached two All-Southern Conference performers as well as two selections on the freshman all-conference team.
Evans’ duties at GSU included assisting with recruiting, on-floor coaching with an emphasis on offense and guard development, scouting opponents, organizing team travel and helping with fundraising.
Immediately prior to her five-year stint at Georgia Southern, Evans spent the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons at Division II USC Aiken in South Carolina. As the Pacers’ recruiting coordinator, she helped the program to a 33-26 record from 2005-2007, including a 20-win campaign that led to the program's first Peach Belt Conference North Division title in five years. Evans coached the nation’s second-best 3-point shooter at 47.5 percent in Meredith Legg. Additionally, point guard Mindy Allee was an Honorable Mention All-America pick in 2006-07.
Evans spent 2001-05 at Seton Hall, the final season of which she served as the Pirates’ recruiting coordinator. Seton Hall earned WNIT berths in 2003 and 2004, and Evans coached six players who went on to play professionally.
Evans got her start in coaching at Adams State College, a Division II school in Colorado, in 2000-01.
A two-sport student-athlete at Georgia Southern, Evans was a four-year letterwinner on the women's basketball team from 1995-1999 and a three-year letterwinner as the goalkeeper for the women's soccer team. On the hardwood, Evans helped lead GSU to the SoCon tournament finals in back-to-back seasons and a regular-season title in 1998. She led the Eagles in 3-point shooting as a senior in 1998-99, and she was GSU’s top free-throw shooter in 1997-98.
On the soccer field, Evans was a second-team all-conference pick in 1997 as she posted five shutouts.
Evans earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from Georgia Southern in 2000. She is a native of Summerville, S.C., and was inducted into the Summerville High School Hall of Fame in 2008.
She is married to Daryl Evans.
