Lincoln – University of Nebraska men’s basketball coach Tim Miles announced Wednesday that Bakari Evelyn(Detroit, Mich.) and Jack McVeigh (Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia) have signed National Letters-of-Intent to join the Husker basketball program next season.

Evelyn, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound guard, spent the 2015 season at Hillcrest (Ariz.) Academy playing for Coach Nick Weaver. Evelyn averaged 25.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game in just nine games after becoming eligible following his transfer. He spent his first three seasons at Southfield (Mich.) Christian, helping the school to a 73-7 record and three straight Class D state titles. He was considered the top player in Class D and one of the best players in the metro Detroit area heading into his senior year. As a junior, he averaged 17.4 points and 4.4 assists per game, highlighted by a 28-point, seven-rebound and four-assist performance in the state title game victory. During his sophomore campaign, he averaged 20.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.6 steals per game to earn first-team all-state honors. Bakari, who also visited UTEP, is the son of Cassandra Stone and Gerald Evelyn.

“Bakari is a great kid with a big personality who is also an excellent student,” Miles said. “He is also a student of the game of basketball which excites me. He is a combo guard who shoots the ball well and uses screen and roll very well. He finds shooters and inside guys alike while penetrating, which has been an important missing ingredient in our style of play. Because of his attitude and the fact he can play either guard position, he’s a great fit for our program.”

McVeigh, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound wing, is one of the top international players in the class of 2015, as he attends the Australian Institute of Sport, the same program that produced seven NBA players in the last 15 years, as well as Husker great and 2012 Olympian Aleks Maric. McVeigh made his debut for Australia’s Senior National Team at the 2014 Sino-Australia Challenge and was voted captain of Australia’s Under-19 National Team in 2014. He was unable to play because of illness, but the Under-19 team qualified for the FIBA Under-19 World Championships this summer in Greece. In addition, he was also chosen to play on the Australian Select Team in 2014 and represented his country at the 2013 adidas Nations event, averaging 11.6 points and 3.6 rebounds while playing against some of the top basketball players in the World in his age group. In domestic competition, he led his Queensland team to a runner-up finish at the 2014 National Under-20 Championships, averaging 27.5 points per game on 55 percent shooting and 9.3 rebounds per game. His efforts earned McVeigh the Bob Staunton Medal as the tournament’s most outstanding player, joining a list of past winners that includes Dante Exum and Patty Mills. He averaged 24.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game playing in the National Under-18 Championships in 2013. He had a 41-point effort in the semifinals and averaged 17.6 points and 12.4 rebounds in 2012. The son of Jenny and Peter McVeigh, Jack also looked at LSU, Virginia and Boise State before selecting Nebraska.

“Jack is a young man we are very excited about,” Miles said. “He’s got a great attitude and energy level. He is a very good shooter, highly competitive player and has a nose for the ball. Jack has good size at 6-7 and length to play on the wing and rebounds the ball really well at his position. He has played at a high level for both the Under-19 and Senior Australian National Teams, giving him an opportunity to compete against high level players not only in his country but across the world. We believe these experiences have prepared him to successfully compete in arguably the best league in the country in the Big Ten.”

Player	Pos.	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown	Last Schools
Bakari Evelyn	G	6-2	175	Detroit, Mich.	Gilbert Christian/Hillcrest Academy
Jack McVeigh	G/F	6-7	210	Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia	Australian Institute of Sport