Mitchel Gym Honors Legacy of Former Director, Hall of Famer Hugh Evans
The legacy of the late Hubert “Hugh” Evans has strong ties to the gym at Mitchel Houses’ community center, where he served as its first director before embarking on a Hall of Fame career as an NBA referee.
In recognition of that storied legacy, Mr. Evans will be indelibly linked to the center’s gym, as the South Bronx facility has been renamed the “Hubert ‘Hugh’ Evans Gymnasium.”
Following the approval of NYCHA’s Board of Directors last September, the Mitchel Houses community celebrated the official renaming on June 1, along with representatives from NYCHA and the National Basketball Referee Association (NBRA), elected officials, and many friends and family of Mr. Evans. Topping off the celebration was the unveiling of an honorary banner for Mr. Evans that will adorn a gym wall, as well as commemorative plaques to be installed from the NBRA and NY Sports United Benevolent Officials Association, paying tribute to Mr. Evans’ legendary career. A proclamation from Mayor Eric Adams declared June 1 as “Hugh Evans Day.”
“I’m ecstatic,” Frederick Lewis, a former mentee who helped lead the charge for the Hugh Evans Gym renaming, said of the recognition coming to fruition. “I think Hugh is grinning from ear to ear in heaven.”
A commemorative plaque was presented by the National Basketball Referee Association in honor of the late Hall of Famer Hugh Evans, pictured at left. (courtesy of Michael Wilder)
Mr. Evans, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 81, oversaw athletic programming as the South Bronx gym’s director for several years in the late 1960s and early 1970s before launching a longtime NBA refereeing career. In September 2022, he was inducted posthumously into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, becoming only the sixth referee to receive the honor. He is also a member of the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame and North Carolina A&T Hall of Fame.
As an NBA referee from 1972 to 2001, Mr. Evans officiated 1,969 regular-season games, as well as 170 playoff games, 35 NBA Finals contests, and four NBA All-Star Games, according to ESPN.com. Also a highly accomplished athlete, Mr. Evans played basketball and baseball at North Carolina A&T State University, a historically black university (HBCU). He was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1963 NBA Draft, but he instead chose to pursue baseball and played several seasons in the minor leagues for the San Francisco Giants.
“The renaming of the gym at Mitchel Community Center in the name of Hugh Evans is a testament to the longevity and all the hard work he has done in the NBA and for the community,” NYCHA’s Vice President of Resident Services Leroy Williams said. “The partnership between NYCHA, East Side House Settlement, the Mitchel Houses Resident Association, and the community proves that his impact was widespread not only on the court, but in the community he loved so much.”
Prior to Mr. Evans’ standout achievements in officiating professional basketball, Mr. Lewis recalled his influence as a community leader for young basketball players growing up in the South Bronx neighborhoods at that time. Mr. Lewis was one of those youth who would come to the local community centers that were then part of the East Side House Settlement, which became a “safe haven” where they were mentored by Mr. Evans and other staff leaders on life lessons beyond basketball.
“Hugh and the staff at that time were like big brothers to us,” noted Mr. Lewis, who grew up at Mill Brook Houses and later went on to play basketball professionally in Switzerland. “They wanted to give back, and we were fortunate to be around at that time to be the recipients of a dynamite group of people. The Mitchel gym wasn’t only for recreation, it was an educational site, a counseling site.”
An honorary banner was placed at the new Hugh Evans Gymnasium, where event speakers included mentee Frederick Lewis (center) and former Congressman Ed Towns, a good friend.
As a result of the foundation that Mr. Evans laid, Mr. Lewis highlighted how many notable athletes have played at the Mitchel gym, including former NBA players Nate “Tiny” Archibald and Rod Strickland.
“Besides what Hugh did for us, the place became a mecca of basketball gyms in New York City – everybody came to play at Mitchel gym,” Mr. Lewis touted.
Mitchel Houses Resident Association President Pamela Smith, a resident since 1965, also pointed to Mr. Evans’ standing as a role model for youngsters during his years at the center, setting the stage for a number of future successful athletes.
“I’m glad that this day has come, and it’s awesome for the community itself,” Ms. Smith said of the gym rebranding in honor of Mr. Evans. “I’m glad he was here at the time he was, because he helped a lot of the young residents that were here.”
Among those celebrating Hugh Evans’ legacy at the gym renaming ceremony were his wife, Cathy Evans, and NBA legend Nate “Tiny” Archibald. (courtesy of Michael Wilder)
Several of the former gym regulars during Mr. Evans’ tenure have remained close decades later, Mr. Lewis noted, and with some of them in attendance at the renaming celebration, it was comparable to a “family reunion.”
With Mr. Evans’ name now enshrined at the Mitchel gym, Mr. Lewis hopes it will serve as inspiration for future generations of NYCHA youth to learn about the legacy of the former director who not only became a Hall of Famer, but also a consequential figure in the lives of young South Bronx residents.
“It’s an opportunity for people to know who Hugh was: someone who really reached back to pull youngsters up,” he said.
Featured photo caption: The gymnasium at Mitchel Houses’ community center in the South Bronx has been rebranded in recognition of the late Hubert “Hugh” Evans, who served as its first director in the late 1960s and early 1970s. (courtesy of Michael Wilder)