Howie Evans Full Bio
Howie Evans was a founding Board Member with Black Fives Foundation, which he joined in 2014, and remained on as Board Member Emeritus until his recent death.
Prior to joining the Black Fives Foundation, Mr. Evans was the Sr. Sports Editor for The New York Amsterdam News, the third oldest paper in New York City. He embraced a career that spanned over 30 years of experience as an educator, journalist, communications specialist, high school, college basketball coach and as a coach in the Holcombe Rucker Summer Pro Rucker League.
He was named by the New York Daily News as one of New York City’s 25 Most Influential African-American Individuals in Sports and Entertainment. The United States Tennis Association honored him in 2006 with their Communicator of the Year Award. Howie Evans served as a charter member on the New York City Board of Education Chancellors Task Force on Academics and Athletics. He spent over 20 years in the New York City Board of Education public school system as the Director of Youth and Adult Education in the troubled areas of the South Bronx, Central, West and East Harlem. The longtime New York Congressman Charles Rangel cited him for his work with youth.
Mr. Evans has reported on sports and news events around the world. He was the Sr. Editor at Black Sports Magazine working with the noted Bryant Gumble. He covered the world headline-grabbing O.J. Simpson trial in Los Angeles.
During his sports journalism career, he has covered the New York-based Yankees, Mets, Knicks and Nets and credentialed for coverage on over 40 Super Bowls. He has covered Olympiads, NBA Championship Finals, NBA All-Star Weekend events Major League Baseball All-Star and Post-season events, McDonald’s Basketball Championships in Barcelona, Munich, Toronto, and Paris. He has covered the Final Four European Basketball Championships as well as USA Davis Cup action and the United States Open Tennis Championships. He has covered events at the White House and written on social issues of national importance to African Americans and others.
His television journalism extended to BET where he was a regular panelist on the groundbreaking Bud Sports Report along with colleagues Michael Wilbon (Washington Post), David Aldridge (Philadelphia Inquirer) and other national writers. He has been featured in ESPN Classics documentaries, including the ABC documentary: “Women in Sports” as well as a documentary “Let Them Play” that featured Robin Roberts of ABC who was an All-America collegiate basketball star. Evans has contributed to sports documentaries on CBS, NBC, ABC, MSG, and ESPN. He was on the team of the 2009 Peabody Award-winning film, Black Magic.
He has made numerous guests appearances on the CUNY Television program African American Legends and was an analyst on the broadcast team that televised the 100th Anniversary Game of Black College Football.
Mr. Evans’ career has been highlighted by many “Firsts” including African American Firsts in Sports. He was the first African-American to own in partnership, a major professional sports team, the Garden State Colonials of the Eastern Professional Basketball league. He was the president of the franchise. Mr. Evans was the first African American to produce and host a network sports radio program on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
He was also the first sportscaster to produce and host a sports call-in radio talk show WRVR FM in New York). The first African American sports reporter to travel with pro teams, New York Knicks and New York Jets. The first to organize and direct a European Tour for Black College Senior Class basketball stars as well as other numerous significant firsts.
Mr. Evans was the President of HEC Communications, a full-service firm that specialized in Public Relations, Marketing, Promotions and Event Management. His clients included Don King Productions, Magnavox, American Express Satellite Tennis Circuit, Converse Rubber Company and Yago Sangria among others.
He was a key member of the public relations, marketing and promotions teams that produced seven of the highest rated Pay-Per-View programs in history on the HBO and Showtime Networks.
He founded the AAU Junior National Basketball Program in 1973, now the largest amateur basketball program in the country. He coached the first-ever USA AAU Junior National team that traveled to Europe for international competition and has coached USA junior and senior teams in many European countries, including England, Spain, France, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, and Russia.
He was the first American coach to take a USA high school basketball team to the former Soviet Union and he has held coaching positions at Fordham University (New York) and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore where he was the school’s head basketball coach.
Mr. Evans has been honored and cited over the years for his achievements by over 100 organizations including the NAACP, United Negro College Fund, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Wheelchair Charities, Positive Images, Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, Trey Whitfield Foundation, Jackie Robinson Culture Center, International Sports Service Award (Montreal, Canada), as well as Positive Images Inc., National Old Timers Athletics Association, the Oakland, California-based African American Sports Hall of Fame. He was presented with Keys to the Cities of Paris and Lyon France and was awarded the China Award of Merit.
Howie Evans has been inducted into numerous sports Halls of Fame and has served on sports youth-serving organization boards in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles. He was the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the 49-year-old City Wide Athletic Association.
In addition, he was a charter member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Trustees. Howie Evans was born, raised and educated in New York City public schools.
Mr. Evans was the last known living connection to Will Anthony Madden, the pioneering King of Black Basketball during the 1910s, a connection that is featured with great detail with an entire chapter in Claude Johnson’s award winning book, The Black Fives: The Epic Story of Basketball’s Forgotten Era (Abrams, 2022).