University of North Georgia Men's Basketball

Dan Evans enters his seventh season as head coach of the men's basketball program after being named the fourth coach in program history in April 2019. Evans has quickly led North Georgia to becoming one of the top NCAA Division II programs in the country. The Nighthawks have broken numerous records en route to groundbreaking accomplishments within the program. Most recently, Evans guided guard AJ White to becoming the second-leading scorer in program history in the 2024-25 season. White, a PBC All-Conference selection, has scored 1,549 points in his career and is on track to become the program’s all-time leading scorer. In the 2023-24 season, Evans led the Nighthawks to the best season in program history as UNG collected a Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship, NCAA Southeast Regional Championship and appearance in the Elite Eight all for the first time in program history. The Nighthawks won a record 28 games with just seven losses. Senior Frank Champion led the team and PBC in nearly every major statistical category as he was named a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-American for the second consecutive season. The season was highlighted by one of the best nights in North Georgia men’s basketball history as UNG took down PBC rival Lander 70-67 in front of a school record near 3,800 fans at the UNG Convocation Center to win the Southeast Regional and punch its ticket to the Elite Eight. Prior to 2024, Evans set a new standard for the men's basketball program in the 2022-23 campaign. He led the Nighthawks to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and win, first national top-25 ranking and the most wins in a single season (21) in the NCAA era (2005-present). Evans coached the program's first PBC and Southeast Region Player of the Year recipient in 2023 in Frank Champion and added a second PBC Freshman of the Year honoree to the roster in AJ White. On Jan. 5, 2022, Evans notched his 100th career head coaching victory when the Nighthawks downed Georgia Southwestern in the UNG Convocation Center.  In his first season at the helm, Evans led the Nighthawks to a PBC Tournament berth after being picked to finish 10th in the preseason league poll. He coached Ephraim Tshimanga to Defensive Player of the Year and All-Conference honors while leading KJ Jenkins to be the Freshman of the Year.   Evans landed in Dahlonega after a six-year stint as the head coach at NCAA Division II Ohio Dominican in Columbus, Ohio where he led his team to 76 wins including a 37-12 mark over the past two seasons. ODU’s streak of three consecutive winning seasons marks the first time since 2005. His 76 wins puts him as the third winningest coach in ODU history.   For the first five years in Evans’ tenure at ODU, the Panthers increased their win total from the previous year, including a remarkable run to winning the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Tournament Championship and earning a bid to the NCAA Midwest Regional berth in 2018. The Panthers defeated Malone, No. 11 Findlay and Hillsdale to claim the conference tournament title before closing their season with a setback to eventual national champion Ferris State in the NCAA Tournament. ODU finished with a 20-11 record as the Panthers won 12 of their last 13 games to enter the NCAA Tournament.   Evans was hired in May of 2013 by ODU to lead the Panthers after spending the previous six seasons as an assistant coach at Hillsdale College where he was part of a coaching staff that rebuilt the Hillsdale basketball program. Evans played his collegiate ball at Lawrence University, a Division III school in Wisconsin, where he was a three-year starter and captain. He earned all-conference honors as a senior and helped take Lawrence to the Elite Eight in 2004. Evans and his wife, Amy, have two children, TR & Maddie. Updated: June 2025

Casanova enters his fifth season as an assistant coach for the men's basketball program at UNG after a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Toledo. At UNG, Casanova has been a part of a staff that reached new heights for the men's basketball program. In 2024, he helped the Nighthawks to their first PBC Tournament Championship, first NCAA Regional Championship and the most wins in a single season in program history (28). The year prior, Casanova was on the staff as UNG earned its first top-25 ranking in program history, its first NCAA Tournament appearance and its first NCAA Tournament win. A Sylvania, Ohio native, Casanova played college basketball at Ohio Dominican University from 2015-19 for UNG hea coach Dan Evans. As a junior, he helped the Panthers to their first NCAA Division II tournament appearance. ODU won the 2018 Great Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament title by defeating No. 11 Findlay, 68-66, in the semifinals and Hillsdale, 71-53, in the championship game. In high school, Casanova earned second-team all-state honors as a senior at Sylvania Southview, where he helped the Cougars post a 24-1 record and a No. 1 ranking in the state. He averaged 19.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game as a senior and was named Northern Lakes League and District Player of the Year. Casanova graduated with magna cum laude honors from Ohio Dominican in May 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in business and finance and a minor in sport management. Casanova’s father, John, played in the National Football League with the Cincinnati Bengals (1984) and Green Bay Packers (1985) after a four-year collegiate career at Northern Michigan University. Updated: June 2025

Armstrong, a native of Tasmania, Australia, enters his first season as an assistant coach with the UNG men's basketball program in the 2025-26 season. He boasts extensive credibility both as a player and coach at a young age.  In 2018, Armstrong was a member of the Australia U18 National Team. With that team he won a gold medal at the FIBA Asia Championship, averaging 4.5 points, two rebounds and 1.2 assists over five games with the squad. The former guard then played four seasons at NCAA Division I member California Baptist (CBU) from 2019-2023. With the Lancers, Armstrong set the DI program record for most games played in a career, appearing in 121 games over four seasons. The 6-foot-6 sharpshooter also knocked down the second-most three-pointers in CBU history with 201 triples during his playing days. He finished his career in 2023 ranked in the top-5 in points, field goals, rebounds, assists and steals at CBU. Upon graduation, Armstrong returned home to Australia to begin a professional playing career with the North West Tasmania Thunder in the National Basketball League 1 (NBL 1). Armstrong has spent the last three seasons with the Thunder, averaging 13.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 assists while knocking down an average of 3.1 triples per game.  Armstrong spent his free time as a self-employed skills trainer during the first two years of his playing career. Then in 2024 he began his coaching career as a basketball development manager and the head men’s basketball coach for the Wynyard Basketball Association in the North West Basketball Union (NWBU). Updated: August 2025

Joe Edwards enters his second season with the UNG men's basketball program. After spending the 2024-25 season as a volunteer assistant coach, Edwards will serve as a graduate assistant for the 2025-26 season. Edwards joined the Nighthawks in 2024 after spending the previous three years as an assistant coach for the varsity boys team at Jefferson High School. At Jefferson, Edwards was a member of a program that made a GHSA Elite Eight appearance in 2022 and were Region Runner-Ups in 2023. Edwards also served as the head coach of a travel team, Blue collar Basketball, for one season back in 2023. After graduating from Lanier Christian Academy in 2019 where Edwards was a three-year letterman and a 2019 All-Region selection, he then worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater for the 2019-20 season.  Updated: August 2025