POCATELLO, Idaho- Idaho State men's basketball coach
Bill Evans has announced that
Andy Ward and
Jay Collins will join him on the staff as assistant coaches. Both played for Evans when he was the head coach at Southern Utah and both have vast experience recruiting in the intermountain West.
“Both of these guys understand who I am and the things I look for in players,” Evans said. “There is no learning curve. They know what I want in players and what I expect out of them once they arrive.”
Ward comes to Idaho State after spending five years as the head coach and the last two years as the athletic director at Northwest College in Wyoming. Prior to his time at Northwest, Ward was the head coach at Eastern Wyoming from 2002-07. He guided the Lancers to three regional championship games and two regional titles and in 2004 his team finished eighth at the NJCAA National Tournament.
Ward is originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He played at Eastern Wyoming for two years and earned All-American honors in 1992. He then played at SUU for two years under coach Evans and was named team MVP as a senior.
“Andy has great ties in the intermountain west and he is a well-respected junior college coach,” Evans said. “He was a successful player when he played for me because of his work ethic and he brings that same quality to Idaho State.”
Collins comes to Idaho State after spending the last two years as an assistant coach at Northern Arizona. There he assisted in all aspects of the daily operations of the program while working the guards. Prior to NAU Collins spent three years at Cochise College, a year at Upper Iowa University in 2006-07 and Texas Pan American in 2005-06.
Collins is from Farmington, New Mexico and played at Cochise, where he earned NJCAA All-America third-team honors while leading the team to its second consecutive trip to the national tournament. He played two seasons at SUU (2001-03) where he was named to the Mid-Continent Conference All-Newcomer Team. He set the school record for most assists in a season (178).
“Jay has experience in the Big Sky and is another person with a recruiting foot print of where we want to spend most of our time,” Evans said.
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