MANITOWOC — Shane Evans was faced with a fork in the road over a decade ago.
Evans had just graduated from the now-closed Silver Lake College in 2011 after four years as a student-athlete on the basketball team.
The Milwaukee native considered leaving Manitowoc and pursuing a law degree but something about his adopted home felt right.
“I took a different path,” Evans said. “I had a lot of friends who stayed in the area who became like family.”
Evans eventually became a special education teacher then an assistant boys basketball coach at Manitowoc Lincoln for five years. He was just recently was named the Ships new head coach.
“I’m excited,” Evans said. “This opportunity was almost too good to be true. I always wanted to coach in some fashion but it wasn’t until I got into coaching I realized I wanted to be a head coach.”
Lincoln was in need of a new coach following the resignation of Thadd Cornell after seven seasons to spend more time with his ailing parents.
Evans served under Cornell and says his familiarity with the program and community likely aided his candidacy for the job.
“A lot of other coaches applied, some big dogs,” Evans said. “I have great relationships with the players and families already. I was one of the coaches who did a lot of work with the other coaches (in the program).”
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Another feather in his cap according to Evans is his determination to look beyond the basketball court.
“A lot of times people focus on X’s and O’s but you have a responsibility on a personal level to help players develop as people more so than basketball players,” Evans said.
Evans has a mantra he uses in the classroom on the court which he applies to everyday life.
“Energy, effort and excellence,” Evans said.
He’s taking this philosophy to continue the work Cornell had done and help Manitowoc Lincoln take the next steps.
The Ships are coming off a 12-13 overall season, including going 9-9 in the FRCC.
Ships sail into history books: 50 years ago, the Manitowoc Lincoln Ships sailed into WIAA basketball history books
Evans will have a pair of second team all-conference players back next season in juniors Brayden Steinbecker and Edward Bolchen.
“A lot of it will be to build on what we have,” Evans said. “We’ve been .500 or slightly better lately. Cornell did a great job rebuilding Manitowoc Lincoln but we want to win a regional championship and go from there.”
Lincoln has been to the WIAA state boys basketball tournament 12 times, with championships in 1963 and 1968, but the last appearance came 25 years ago.
Looking back at 1968: Manitowoc Lincoln's 1968 state title forged at camp the summer before
“We’ve got to get the pride back in Lincoln,” Evans said. “The big thing is restoring pride both in the school and the community.”
Everything starts at the youth level he says, where he hopes to begin not developing just players but coaches as well.
“When you speak of (Fox River Classic Conference powerhouse) De Pere, you look at the youth level,” Evans said. “You have to be ready to get in the mud and develop good players and coaches. If you develop coaches, they’ll develop better players.”
Evans is going to make sure to put in the energy and effort to help his players and program achieve excellence.
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com . Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck .
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: New Manitowoc Lincoln boys basketball coach Shane Evans glad for life's 'different path'
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