Former Lone Peak, Wasatch Academy head coach David Evans to lead RSL Basketball Academy.
In another sign of the changing face of high school basketball, Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake and its Zions Bank Real Academy announced it will launch the RSL Basketball Academy this fall. The team will compete in the Utah High School Athletic Association, according to a Tuesday
press release from the organization.
Evans compiled a 120-20 record at his previous stops, earning three trips to GEICO Nationals. Wasatch Academy went 27-2 and finished the season ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps under his guidance in 2019-20.
"I'm excited to be a part of Real Salt Lake Academy," Evans said. "They are
professional and have shown excellence in everything that they do. Their
soccer program is first class and this is what we will do with the
basketball program. We are excited to get started with kids from all
over the world and not only train them to be excellent basketball
players but help develop great human beings."
David Evans, Wasatch Academy
File Photo: Steven Ryan
Players will live at the RSL Academy residential housing and attend school at the STEM-based RSL Academy High School in Herriman.
The team will play its games at Salt Lake Community College while the club constructs a basketball-specific facility within the next 18 months.
While the RSL Basketball Academy is the first of its kind in the United States, the model could be followed by other MLS teams as European clubs have blazed a path for the soccer/basketball crossover.
Clubs like Spain's FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF have built powers in both professional soccer and basketball with developmental academies in place to keep homegrown talent in their system.
