Updated at 2:12 p.m., Wednesday, December 26, 2007
CBKB: Eddie Sutton to replace Evans at San Francisco
By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Sports Writer
A West Coast Conference official familiar with the situation said Wednesday that Evans was stepping down and that the 71-year-old Sutton would take over the Dons on an interim basis. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no formal announcement.
Sutton's return was first reported by CBSSports.com.
Sutton retired as Oklahoma State's coach after the 2005-06 season. He has 798 victories in 36 seasons as a Division I coach at Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.
Evans had a meeting scheduled with athletic director Debra Gore-Mann earlier in the day. USF said a major announcement was planned for Wednesday night.
Evans is in his fourth season at USF (4-8). He was hired from Louisiana-Lafayette in April 2004 to replace fired coach Phil Mathews.
This month, the NCAA suspended Dons senior forward Vince Polakovic for 24 games stemming from his participation with a German national team in 2004.
The school said at the time that several members from the German national team received stipends deemed by the NCAA "above actual and necessary expenses." San Francisco contended that Polakovic wasn't among those players who received payments and said it would appeal the suspension.
Evans coached on Lute Olson's staff at Arizona from 1988-97 and also worked as an assistant at Minnesota, Texas, Wyoming, and San Diego State before joining the Arizona staff. He helped lead the Wildcats to a 25-9 record and a national title in his ninth and final season with Arizona.
