NC State Adds Elite Rim Protector Kyle Evans From Portal

RALEIGH — NC State men's basketball continues its roster rebuild since hiring Justin Gainey as the 22nd head coach of the program following Will Wade's messy exit. Transfer portal season started slowly for the Wolfpack, but things started to pick up steam over the last few days.

Gainey secured a significant commitment from former UC Irvine forward Kyle Evans on Tuesday, according to his Instagram. The move brings the nation's leading shot blocker from the 2025-26 season to Raleigh, helping solidify the frontcourt defense for NC State after losing all of the production from a year ago to graduation and the transfer portal.

More on the Wolfpack adding Evans

The stats tell the story with Evans, with the blocked shots jumping off the page in a major way. In his second season with the Anteaters, the 6-foot-10 forward averaged 12.1 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game, helping UCI reach the Big West title game, where it fell just short of making the NCAA Tournament.

Given NC State's major deficiencies in the frontcourt a year ago, Evans and the other big men targets emerged as priorities once Gainey solidified his backcourt with Preston Edmead and Christian Hammond. After the early spending spree by other programs on forwards and centers had settled down, the Wolfpack made its move for Evans and a handful of other bigs.

UC Irvine's Kyle Evans with a near-triple-double against Hawaii 🤯🤯

19 points
11 rebounds
7 blocks
2 steals
7-12 FGs

What do we think of his game? 🤔🤔🤔 pic.twitter.com/9Ir0u4FSZS
— The Portal Report (@ThePortalReport) January 30, 2026

Evans is a springy player, which helps with his shot-blocking ability and his offensive offerings. He shot 62% from the field during the 2025-26 season and 67% as a bench player the year before. UCI has a reputation for producing solid collegiate bigs over the years, particularly on the defensive end of the court. Instinctually, Evans is as good as they come. Combining that with his athleticism made him the nation's leading shot blocker.

The primary concern for NC State will be whether Evans is capable of making the jump to the ACC from the Big West. The forward started his career at Colorado State, where he rarely saw the floor, playing just 20 games in two seasons. The move to Irvine gave him a new lease on his collegiate basketball life, with the blocked shot totals increasing each year with the Anteaters.

Evans marked the first commitment by a forward since Gainey took over the Wolfpack program just three weeks ago. NC State still has several open roster spots to fill after adding three players out of the transfer portal thus far.

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