Hugh Evans

As a young boy transplanted from Bishop, West Virginia – a coal camp constructed in the Pocahontas Coalfield – to Brooklyn, New York, Hugh Evans attended Boys High School. There, he teamed with Connie Hawkins to lead Boys High to the city basketball championship in 1959. Evans soon graduated and enrolled at North Carolina A&T State University where he played basketball with Al Attles and starred on the baseball diamond. He was then drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in 1963, but chose instead to pursue his dream of playing Major League Baseball. Eventually, he returned to New York thus reigniting his love affair with basketball. Evans began officiating games for the neighborhood kids, but soon tested his talent up at Rucker Park. Then in 1973, Evans started calling games in the NBA and never looked back. One of the most respected referees in the game, Evans worked 28 years in the NBA, covering nearly 2,000 regular season games, four NBA All-Star games, 170 playoff games, and 35 NBA Finals games. Evans consistently rated very high, mentored younger referees, and later served as the NBA Assistant Supervisor of Officials.