Crimson Loses Top Recruit to Injury

Entering her freshman season, standout basketball recruit Jasmine Evans hoped to follow the advice of her coach and provide a defensive presence that would help the Harvard women’s basketball team regain its position atop the Ivy League.

Plans, however, changed quickly. Just two weeks after arriving in Cambridge, Evans suffered a torn ACL that will keep her off the court for the year.

Evans was taking part in a one-on-one defensive drill when her right leg was caught between the legs of a teammate as she powered to the basket for a layup.

“All I remember was hearing a pop and then I fell to the floor,” Evans said. “It sounded like someone just took my bone and tried to break it in half.”

She quickly added with a laugh, “I didn’t cry.”

When Evans went to the trainer to find out the results of her MRI, however, it was harder to keep back the tears.

“It was kind of hard to take in,” said Evans, who never suffered a serious injury during her time at Henry M. Gunn High School in Palo Alto, Calif.

Evans, who received interest from some of the top basketball programs in the country, including Stanford, led Gunn to a 29-2 record and her school’s first league championship during her senior season. A 5’9 combo guard with quick feet, stifling defense—she averaged 4.5 steals per game near the end of her senior year in high school—and a remarkable ability to finish at the basket, Evans showed promise in early workouts with her new team at Harvard.

“I think she’s incredibly athletic,” Crimson coach Kathy Delaney-Smith said. “In the one cardio workout we had, she led the team.”

With the injury, however, Evans will have to look for different ways to contribute this season. Although no plans have officially been announced for the remainder of the season, Evans has spent the past few days helping her teammates at practice.

“We formally call her Coach Evans [now],” Delaney-Smith said.

Both Evans and Delaney-Smith believe that positives can be drawn from the situation. In addition to getting a firm grip on the Harvard offense, Evans hopes to become a stronger and smarter basketball player from watching her teammates.

“I think mentally it will prepare me better for tough games,” Evans said. “I know I’ll have to go out and play my hardest because, after an injury like this, you can’t complain about anything else.”

The Palo Alto native chose to leave her hometown for Cambridge, much to the chagrin of her friends back home, who had hoped to continue to watch her play in California. Evans, however, knew Harvard was the right choice after her official visit in October of last year, when she met the coaches and other players. Evans, a prospective biology or bioengineering concentrator, felt Harvard would give her a better chance to focus on academics.

The Crimson coaching staff did have one major selling point that had nothing to do with academics—Harvard’s famous upset of Stanford during the opening round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament. The win remains the only time a 16-seed has ever defeated a one-seed in NCAA Tournament history.

Unsurprisingly, the Stanford coaching staff kept quiet about the game.

Evans hopes that her injury will not prevent her from following in the footsteps of a different Palo Alto native. Men’s basketball co-captain Jeremy Lin, who also grew up in Palo Alto, attended Evans’ rival high school. Evans remembers cheering for Lin as he led Palo Alto High School over the favorites from Matter Dei in the 2006 CIF Division II State title.

With an impending surgery and a season on the bench awaiting the freshman guard, Evans will look to come back stronger for her sophomore season. On top of making sure her knee is healthy, Evans hopes to improve her conditioning while maintaining her speed and defensive prowess.

“Despite this small setback, we expect Jasmine to have a great career,” Delaney-Smith said.