Basketball fans, today marks the ninth week of the HoriZone PC series, which is a tribute to every current Horizon League coach in the style of video games.
This week, we are featuring Youngstown State’s Evan Faulkner, who’s the program’s Director of Operations. His twin brother, Ethan, is the team’s head coach.
Beginnings: The Faulkner twins played at Elliott County in Sandy Hook, KY under head coach Rick Mays. As a junior, Evan averaged 16 points and seven assists per game. As a senior, he received second-team all-state recognition and was even named Most Outstanding Player of the 2008-09 Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
NCAA Division I: While twin brother Ethan went on to play at future Horizon League school Northern Kentucky, Evan went on to play his first two NCAA seasons at Radford University under head coach Brad Greenberg.
As a freshman, we find a young Evan in NCAA Basketball 10. Evan played played in 29 of the team’s 31 games (3 starts), averaging 2.1 points per game, 1.6 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 17 minutes per game. His best game as a freshman was on January 9, 2010 at High Point where he had 9 points and 5 rebounds.
As a team, the Highlanders finished the 2009-10 season in 2nd place behind Coastal Carolina in the Big South standings with a 13-5 conference record and a solid 19-12 overall record before losing to eventual conference tournament champion Winthrop in the semifinals.
Evan Faulkner’s ratings in NCAA Basketball 10
• OVRL (overall): 61
• FG (field goals): 44
• 3PT (3-point): 47
• FT (free throw): 69
• DUNK (dunking): 38
• STL (steals): 60
• BLK (block): 35
• OREB (offensive rebounds): 60
• DREB (defensive rebounds): 39
• PASS (passing): 70
• OFF (offense ability): 56
• DEF (defense ability): 54
• SPD (speed): 76
• QUICK (quickness): 81
• VERT (vertical): 54
• DRB (dribble): 80
• STRGTH (strength): 68
• DUR (durability): 71
• RNG (shooting range): 18
• STAMINA: 83
• INS. SCR (inside scoring): 46
NCAA Basketball 10
In the 2010-11 season, Evan’s numbers increased. As a sophomore, he played in all 29 games (14 starts) and averaged 5.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals, and 21.6 minutes per game while also shooting 79 percent from the foul line (49-of-62). He reached double-figure scoring in 5 games, with his career-high of 15 points coming on November 24, 2010 at George Mason.
Although Evan’s number improved, his team literally fell off the radar as a whole. Radford finished at the very bottom of the 10-team Big South standings with a 5-24 overall record and an abysmal 2-16 record against conference opponents.
NCAA Division II: Shortly after the season ended, Evan transferred to Division II University of Charleston for his last two collegiate seasons and was a started for both campaigns under head coach Mark Downey. In his two seasons with the Golden Eagles, Evan played in 60 games (58 starts), averaging 12.2 points and 30.6 minutes per game while shooting 40.2 percent from downtown and 76.2 percent on free throws. He also led his team to the 2012 NCAA Tournament and graduated from the University of Charleston in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in Wellness Education.
Coaching beginnings: Evan stayed at the University of Charleston to begin his coaching career under Coach Downey in the 2013-14 season and helped lead the Golden Eagles to the 2014 NCAA Tournament’s Division II Atlantic Regional.
High school coaching: Faulkner served as the head boys basketball coach at Ripley High School in Ripley, WV (2014-16) and not only led his Vikings squad to the two best seasons in program history, but guided them to regional semifinal for the first time in a decade and a half.
Return to the collegiate level: Evan then went to join the coaching staff at the University of Pikeville aka UPIKE (2016-24) in Pikeville, KY, where he spent his first 4 seasons under head coach Kelly Wells and spent his last 4 seasons there as the team’s Associate Head Coach under head coach Tigh Compton. Under Coach Wells, Evan started in 2016-17 as a graduate assistant before he got promoted to assistant coach for the next 3 seasons (2017-20). Evan helped lead the Bears to a total of 168 wins, six appearances in the NAIA National Tournament, a pair of trips to the Elite Eight, and one regular-season conference championship.
