Evelyn guides McCaffery, Toussaint with previous experience
Bakari Evelyn, Joe Toussaint, and Patrick McCaffery are all new to the Hawkeye program, but Evelyn’s previous college basketball experience helps gives guidance to the freshmen.
Bakari Evelyn speaks with members of the press during an Iowa men’s basketball media availability at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on July 24, 2019.
October 28, 2019
Drive around Iowa City at any time, and three new but familiar faces might cruise right by.
Those three faces would belong to new Hawkeye basketball players Bakari Evelyn, Patrick McCaffery, and Joe Toussaint.
The three teammates are entering the Iowa program at the same time, McCaffery and Toussaint as true freshmen and Evelyn as a graduate transfer from Valparaiso.
Because of Evelyn’s previous college basketball experience — he previously played a season at Nebraska before heading to Valpo — he has served as a leader for the other two entering the college-basketball world for the first time.
“I feel like I’m one of them, like I’m [Toussaint] or Patrick sometimes, like I’m a freshman as well,” Evelyn said. “Both coming in and both having to adjust to a lot of things and me being around before — being able to tell them how to work through situations, how to get through things in practice — I think definitely makes us have a real good relationship.”
Evelyn’s previous experience speaks for itself.
In his best season with the Crusaders in 2017-18, Evelyn averaged 12.6 points per game on 38.3 percent shooting from deep to go along with 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.
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McCaffery and Toussaint, however, don’t have any college experience.
McCaffery is Iowa City West High’s all-time leading scorer and was the 60th-best prospect in the nation, according to ESPN, while Toussaint was a finalist for Mr. Basketball in the state of New York and the fifth-best recruit in the state, according to 247Sports.
Now, all three of them are beginning a new journey in Iowa City.
“[Evelyn] adds a lot of collegiate experience, more so than me and Joe,” McCaffery said. “We’ve kind of bonded together just because we’re all newcomers. We’re always with Bakari. He’s just somebody that everybody obviously really enjoys to be around. Just somebody who’s fit in pretty seamlessly with the rest of our group.”
As someone who’s been through the grind of college basketball before, Evelyn can help McCaffery and Toussaint in many ways, whether it’s showing them how to get through a three-hour practice or providing an example of how to act when things aren’t going well in practice.
Sharing the unique bond of being newcomers with an experienced college player is rare in the Hawkeye program, but Toussaint and McCaffery have already benefited from it.
“We talk a lot about this upcoming season,” Toussaint said. “He’s a veteran. He’s just a grad transfer; I’m a freshman. So, I just tell him like, ‘Can you teach me some points of how to score, how to pass the ball, how to get into the lane?’”
And when McCaffery and Toussaint miss the bus as they get used to the campus and transit system in Iowa City, they know they can count on Evelyn to pick them up.
“I’ve been their little Uber driver a little bit,” Evelyn said. “If the bus isn’t open, I definitely get a call from Pat. That’s my guy. I can get them anytime.”
