Evans Spirit And Attitude Set Him Apart, Not His Condition

Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affect movement and muscle tone or posture. It’s caused by damage that occurs to the immature brain as it develops, most often before birth. Signs and symptoms appear during infancy or preschool years.

“People try to give me things because of my circumstances in life and I do not want that,” Trevor Evans said. “I don’t want you to see me different in anyway and think, oh because this happened you deserve this. I don’t deserve anything more than the next guy. I need to work for what I have in life. In the end i knew I Wanted to over come this and prevail so in the future people who are born with cerebral palsy can see me as a light and say well he did it so I can do it.”

Warren County’s senior manager Trevor Evans was born with cerebral palsy. Evans sees his condition as an ability not a disability and under no circumstance, whatsoever, wants an preferential treatment or pity form anyone. Evans love of basketball goes back a long time.

“I have loved basketball as long as I can remember,” Evans said. “I quit playing basketball in middle school but I still wanted to be apart of the game and change the game later in life. I was the middle school manager all three years thanks to Coach Phillips. Coming into high school I wanted to continue to be a manager but I didn’t know how to go about it. I had a friend talk to Coach Glen the freshman coach and he said absolutely come out and help.”

Evans favorite basketball team in all of basketball is the Warren County Pioneers. Evans is a Pioneer through and through. No matter where I coach this team and town will always home to Evans.

“From there I decided I wanted to be a coach so I talked with Coach Sullens and said I want to be around you and go by your day to day so I know what coach life would be like.,,” Parsons said. “It is definitely something I want to pursue. My parents always told me when I was a kid don’t let anything stop you from your goals no matter if you are a little different. I want to prove to people who think that I can’t do it because of my disability that I can.”

Evans plans to go to Motlow State Community College after h graduates, in McMinnville, and continue to work with the Warren County Pioneers boys basketball program. After he completes his two years at Motlow Evans plans to reach out to colleges in the state of Tennessee, and in other states close by to continue his role as a manager or student assistant.

“I want to be a physical education major because of Coach Wood,” Evans said. “Ever since I was in sixth grade I had coach Wood and he never looked at me any differently. He never changed the rules for me. It’s because of him right there that I want to be a coach and a P.E. teacher. I want to be a teacher so I can coach and touch kids lives that way. Hopefully one day I have a coaching job that is my main job.”

Evans entered Warren County’s game against Hardy Memorial, at the Sonic Shootout in Sparta right before the Christmas break. Evans drained one, three and another basket to finish the game with five points.

“The only reason I got in was because of the hard work of my teammates in the game and in practice,” Evans said. “That’s the simple fact of it because if we hadn’t of been playing how we were playing I wouldn’t have played… That was a dream to reality right there. It’s something I’ve dreamed of for a long time. Putting Warren County across my chest and being able to play. I’ve never had a better feeling than that.”

It is that type of attitude and resilience that has endured Evans to his teammates, coaches, and other students throughout the school.

“Trevor means so much to our program,” Warren County boys basketball head coach Chris Sullens said. “It was refreshing to see how a group of young men rallied around their teammate and want success for him. It is hard to put into words how much we learn from Trevor every day and how he embodies what we want our young men to be, a good teammate.”

Evans struggled to talk about how much his parents have sacrificed for him and just how truly and deeply grateful he is for all they have done for him throughout his life.

“My parents are two of the best people in the world, the really are,” Evans said. “They have sacrificed so much for me.”

Warren County’s Trevor Evans is the Legacy Award recipient for December 2019, and now a qualifier for a $1,000 scholarship presented by Legacy XI of Cookeville.

UCSportsNation.Com proudly joins with the Legacy XI Foundation to honor senior athletes across our region who exemplify that Legacy Of Excellence. Each month, we bring you the story of one local athlete who represents the tradition of Heather Kernell Prince. The Legacy XI Foundation celebrates the role of education in the Upper Cumberland and what Heather Prince meant to so many in our community. The Legacy XI Foundation will award one monthly Legacy Of Excellence winner a $1,000 scholarship at the end of the school year so they may continue their education in honor of Heather