Dena Evans to speak to Keene State coaches and athletes

KEENE, N.H. 10/19/11 – People in the Monadnock area are familiar with Doris “Granny D” Haddock, a former U.S. Senate candidate and longtime political activist from Dublin, N.H. Now Keene State College coaches and athletes are going to have an opportunity to meet and get to know Dena Evans, known to thousands of Point Guard College (PGC) Basketball graduates as “Coach D,” when she speaks to them on Wednesday, Oct. 26. 

Evans is the owner and director of PGC, whose expanded curriculum, covering more than just point guard play, provides dedicated players of all positions (and coaches, too) with a complete education on how to play smart, tough, intelligent basketball.

“We bring in a lot of speakers to talk to our student athletes and when we found out about Dena Evans, we thought she’d be an ideal person to bring to campus,” said KSC men’s basketball coach and assistant athletic director Rob Colbert. “She was a major force in women’s athletics and basketball and speaks from experience. Dena can relate to kids, knows what it’s like to be in their shoes, and recognizes the ups-and-downs of being an intercollegiate athlete.”

Although she is only 5' 4" inches tall, Dena Evans was named “Miss High School Basketball” in Texas as a high school senior. She became a star at the University of Virginia, where she led her teams to three NCAA Final Four appearances and a 118-17 record during her four-year career. As a senior at UVA, Dena was named the best point guard in the nation and received the Frances P. Naismith award as the country’s top collegiate player under 5' 7". In 2002, Dena was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference’s (ACC) 50th anniversary all-time women’s basketball team.

Dena’s pursuit of excellence isn’t confined to the basketball court. A Rhodes Scholar finalist and magna cum laude graduate with a degree in economics, she was selected as one of the top ten student-athletes in the nation as a senior and earned First Team Academic All-America honors for three consecutive years.

“When athletes comes to our programs I talk to them about things related to leadership, being the best that you can be in your experience as an athlete,” said Evans. “I also talk about how the athletic experience translates into a players’ life once they’re done playing basketball or any sport.”

Evans said her talk with Keene State coaches and athletes will center on the intangible aspects of leadership. “Coaches always talk about memorable players and the best players they’ve ever coached,” she said. “We spend a lot of time looking at those players, their qualities, and the characteristics that you can teach.”  

Nationally known professional, collegiate and high school coaches, including  UCLA legend John Wooden, UConn head women’s coach Geno Auriemma, and Rick Carlisle, the head coach of the 2011 NBA champion Dallas Mavericks, have commented glowingly about her ability to inspire and teach athletes the sport of basketball.