Murray Evans’ coverage and character benefit OC athletics

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Followers of Oklahoma Christian University Athletics from across the country read Murray Evans’ articles on the athletic department’s website, but what goes unseen is the hours of extra work that takes place away from the public eye.

Evans has been the associate athletic director for media relations and the sports information director at Oklahoma Christian since August of 2011. Although he has worked at the school for a relatively short period of time, Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dan Hays said he has known Evans for nearly 25 years and is aware of the behind-the-scenes work Evans does.

“He’s put in long hours,” Hays said. “So many people follow the websites now that they get those stories up there quick. More and more people are hitting up those websites and less people are getting the printed news.”

The hours of work willingly put in each day comes from Evans’ experience in the field.

“He’s been trained well and he’s been out on the job with his work at The Oklahoman, his work with the Associated Press, and so he knows how schools work,” Hays said. “He knows how professional teams work so he’s really well versed in sports information.”

Men’s Baseball Head Coach Lonnie Cobble has also known Evans on a personal level for more than 20 years, and said he appreciates the extra workload Evans takes upon himself to help the sports program run smoothly.

“He does a ton for the school, and people probably overlook it and say ‘Oh, what does he really do’ and ‘How hard is it to write a story?’” Cobble said. “He’s really short-handed as far as staff goes, so he’s doing a lot. He goes above and beyond in a lot of areas.”

Another aspect Cobble said he appreciates about Evans is the moral standard he uses when interviewing and writing stories.

“He is one of those guys where he interviews you and he won’t let you get in trouble,” Cobble said. “Coaches can say things sometimes and the next day they see it in print and they’re going ‘I probably shouldn’t have said that.’ He looks out for you and I know that’s his job as a sports information director but even as a reporter he could’ve probably got guys in trouble. But Murray thinks about it and he’s got the best interest of the person, and he’s not out there trying to get people in trouble and stir up controversy.”

Evans began his journalism career in the spring of 1988. He started working as a sports journalist for The Oklahoman during his junior year at Oklahoma Christian, and continued working there until 2000 when he transferred to writing for a high school sports magazine and website.

In 2003, his career path led him to a job as a correspondent for the Associated Press in Lexington, Kentucky. The job, housing and a home congregation lined up effortlessly for Evans and his wife, Grace, and they lived in the area for the next three years.

Another AP opportunity became available in Oklahoma City in 2006 and Evans pursued it in hopes of covering sports teams in the area. He wrote news as well as sports during his five years on the job, and then he accepted the position of a full-time Sports Information Director for Oklahoma Christian in 2011.

Some of the duties within the position include keeping the statistics and records for all of the sports teams, managing game operations, overseeing and contributing to all of the school’s social media accounts and maintaining the school’s official athletic website, which includes updating profiles, stories, statistics, schedules and videos.

Traveling is also a significant component of how Evans covers the teams. He aims to attend most home games as well as all of the National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association Championship games, which take place across the country, including Ohio, New York and Florida.

According to senior soccer player Matt McLain, Evans supports the athletes he writes about and works to help them improve overall.

“What I appreciate about Murray is that you can definitely tell he wants what’s best for the athletes,” McLain said. “You can tell that in what he writes that he’s pushing for athlete success and athlete well being, whether it’s pushing for nicer facilities or [anything else], you can tell he’s always got the athlete’s back.”

When asked about how student-athletes may show their appreciation to Evans, sophomore Evan Durrill, a runner on the men’s cross-country team, had a simple answer.

“Buy him dinner,” Durrill said.

Whether or not students buy dinner for Murray Evans, appreciation and gratitude can be seen through their interest in his articles, their interactions with him in daily life and their acknowledgement that he works hard to help them succeed.

“He does it because he’s a good person,” Cobble said. “And hopefully we can give back to him like he gives to us.”