Eversley Leads Mustangs to Conference Victory

Sophomore forward Chris Eversley netted career highs of 18 points and 9 rebounds during Cal Poly's Saturday night Big West Conference Win vs. Cal State Fullerton

I had a question earlier this season about Cal Poly’s inside players, and I wasn’t the only one. It wasn’t lack of confidence in Will Taylor or Will Donahue — both are above-average big men with solid offensive and rebounding games. No, the question I had was about depth.

You see, the Mustangs have guards. Plenty of them. They have guys who can play in nearly any situation. Need a shooter? Dylan Royer and Kyle Odister fit the bill. What about a guard who can post up a ‘la Shawn Lewis a season ago? Maliik Love’s strength can fill that need. At the point, Amaurys Fermin is a classic point guard while Jamal Johnson provides quickness and a left-handed change of pace off the bench.

But what about depth at the “5” position?

After Will Donahue and Will Taylor, I wondered, who else on this year’s roster could even play the 5?

On Saturday night in Mott Gym, Mustang fans found out that, at least for one night, Chris Eversley could.

The redshirt sophomore exploded for career highs of 18 points and 9 rebounds to help the men’s basketball team to its first conference win of the season and improve their record to 10-6 (1-2 Big West).

“Coming into the game we knew that Fullerton’s a good, talented team,” said Eversley. “For us to come out and jump on an 18-0 run, I mean that was big.”

With power forward David Hanson, Taylor, and Donahue all seniors, Eversley’s strong play bodes well for Cal Poly’s future.

“My teammates put me in good position to get rebounds and get shots… . It’s not all me,” said Eversley.

With starting post-man Taylor on the bench with early foul trouble and Donahue generally unavailable with a sore Achilles tendon, head coach Joe Callero had to call on the undersized Eversley. While Eversley is probably more of a natural small or power forward, he said he looks to Taylor for guidance on how to play against the other team’s biggest player.

“Will and I always talk about it. He and I are each other’s support systems,” said Eversley. “Whether he’s having an off game or I’m having an off game, we’re always there for each other. He’s been an excellent role model for me because most of the stuff I’ve learned at the 5 I’ve learned from him or Will Donahue.”

Callero pointed to Eversley as a key to the Mustangs’ first conference win.

“We had talked about trying to improve our offense as a steady 40-minute offense instead of starting off quick and having a 5-minute lull. We talked about the bench being bigger contributors… . Chris Eversley really found his spot as a 4/5 man and gave both offense and defense positions. For him to take the opportunity and shine, I’m so happy for him because he’s such a hard-working kid, he’s so coachable, he’s done so great in school. He’s just a sophomore. For him to come out and have almost a double-double, 18 and 9, that makes you excited not just for tonight’s win and the rest of the season, but also for the future of Cal Poly to have another guy developing out there.”

Eversley, a 6′ 6” transfer from Rice University sat out last season. In his second season in San Luis Obispo, his athleticism gives his coach some flexibility when one of his big men (Donahue) is sidelined.

It was, overall, a really really good ingredient game – having other guys contribute felt good for them because they work so hard.

Cal Poly went on an 18-0 run in the first half. Sophomore guard Maliik Love scored 7 points during the run. He and Eversley used their athleticism to get to the basket, force the tempo, and put the visiting Titans on their heels early.

“Is that what it was?” questioned Callero about the Mustangs’ first-half 18-0 spurt. “I would have taken a 9-0 run. An 18-0 run for us would be more like an explosion, more than spurtability… . We put a lot of pressure on our guys [this week] to concentrate more on the offensive end.”

Eversley’s contribution showed that his presence at the 5 spot for the Mustangs can create match-up problems for opponents and that, at least while Donahue’s minutes are limited, the Mustangs are far from option-less.

Notes

Junior guard Dylan Royer went 3-3 from three-point range on Saturday and has now made at least one 3-pointer in 17 straight games dating back to the final game of last season.

Saturday night’s game was David Hanson’s 100th career game at Cal Poly.

Photos below by Jamie Pereira

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