Chicago Star Guard Evan Gilyard Preaches Defense for UTEP

There was a time many years ago when the UTEP men's basketball team was regularly winning conference championships and playing in the NCAA Tournament. During that era of Miners basketball, head coach Don Haskins had a great pipeline to Chicago-area talent. Players like Tim Hardaway, Ralph Davis, Johnny Melvin, Marlon Maxey, and Antoine Gillespie were a big part of UTEP's Windy City connection. Fast forward to 2017 and head coach Tim Floyd is hoping to start a new Chicago pipeline with guard Evan Gilyard.

The sweet-shooting leftie says that hard work helps define Chicago basketball. Gilyard also loves defense, which will be music to Coach Floyd's ears. Like Kobe Magee, he also preaches an unselfish style of play, and wants to make his teammates better when he is on the court. He has played in big arenas before, so the Don Haskins Center will not be intimidating to him. It will be fun to watch Gilyard develop as a Miner, and help team in the backcourt with Magee for years to come.