TUCSON, Ariz.--Nancy Evans, assistant coach and a former star player for the Arizona softball program, has resigned from her position to pursue other opportunities, head coach Mike Candrea announced today. 

"After 15 years at the University of Arizona, exciting opportunities have been presented to me and I have decided to pursue them,” Evans said.  "As a student-athlete and coach at the University, I will take with me many wonderful memories, experiences and accomplishments,” she said.

“Nancy played a very significant part in the success of Arizona softball over the years”, said Candrea. “She has played and coached the game at the highest level and has left quite a legacy at the UA.

 

“Nancy Evans has been a part of six of our eight NCAA Championship teams, either as a coach or an athlete.  It just won’t be the same without her, but we wish her the best of luck in pursuing her new opportunities”, said Jim Livengood, Arizona director of athletics.  

Candrea, who will be taking a partial leave of absence this coming season to work as head coach of the U.S. National Team in preparations for the Beijing Olympics beginning in January said he would commence groundwork immediately to fill the position, but has no timetable for a replacement’s arrival.

Evans is one of the University of Arizona's most decorated female student-athletes. She was the NCAA player of the year in 1998 by winning the Honda Softball Award, and was a two-time first-team All-American pitcher in 1997 and 1998. She is a member of the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in 2003.

She played on the 1994 and 1997 NCAA Champion Wildcat teams and redshirted on the 1996 NCAA title squad with an injury. She earned first-team Academic All-America honors her senior year, Women's College World Series most outstanding player honors, and concluded her career with an NCAA-record .939 winning percentage that still stands behind her 124-8 pitching record.

She played on the USA National Team in 1997 when it won the Pan Am Games. In 1999 she played for the Women's Professional Fastpitch League Tampa Bay franchise that won the World Championship, and later also played for the Tucson Heat professional Team."

As an assistant coach, Evans, from Glendale, Calif., helped give UA an All-American pitcher each of her seasons tutoring the position, including last year's WCWS most outstanding player Taryne Mowatt. She coached on three teams that won NCAA titles -- 2001, 2006 and 2007. She earned a degree in psychology from UA in 1998.