R.J. Evans has done his share of traveling in pursuit of advancing his education and basketball career.

His latest stop: Austin, Texas.

Last month, Evans joined Texas head coach Shaka Smart's basketball staff as a graduate assistant.

Since graduating from Norwich Free Academy, he's been on a whirlwind journey.

He played at and earned his undergraduate degree from Holy Cross in Worcester. Next he suited up for UConn for one season and received his graduate degree in educational psychology. His next stop was Durham University in England where he continued his playing career and studied international business.

Last season, he served as an assistant coach at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass.

He never expected to be making the 28-hour drive to Texas on June 4 to start a new job until a call from a former coach and good friend set everything in motion.

"It was crazy how it came about," Evans said. "I got here June 6. If you asked me May 6 anything about Texas, I wouldn't even thought that I'd be here. It kind of happened fast."

Mark Daigneault, an assistant coach at Holy Cross during Evans' playing days, knows Smart. One day Smart asked Daigneault if he knew any good candidates for the graduate assistant's position at Texas.

Daigneault, who graduated from UConn and worked as a student manager for Jim Calhoun from 2003-2007, contacted Evans in early May. He now is the coach of Oklahoma City's D-League team in Tulsa.

Evans had a phone interview with Denny Kuiper, a special assistant to Smart, and provided some background. He was told getting the job was a long shot.

A few days later, he received a call from a Texas number, but had no idea who it was before picking up. It was Smart.

"We just talked about why I wanted to get into coaching and things like that, and his expectations of the position," Evans said. "It went really well."

So well that Evans was asked about three weeks later to come to Texas. He jumped at the opportunity.

"After I got the call, three or four hours later, I was in the car driving down to Texas," Evans said.

Everything kept falling into place after he was hired. He was accepted into graduate school last week. During his two-year stint, he'll study kinesiology.

For those keeping score, Evans will end up with three graduate degrees. He has one paper left to finish his degree work at Durham.

Evans saw a quote in a store this week that fit him perfectly.

"You can never be overdressed or over-educated," Evans said of the quote.

Since arriving in Texas, he's been settling into his new home.

He found an apartment about a mile and a half from campus. He's learning his job responsibilities, which will include everything from helping prepare coaches for recruiting, watching film, working on scouting reports, as well as handling an assortment of day-to-day duties.

He's thrilled to be working for Smart.

"I've followed coach Smart's career," Evans said. "He's one of the best and most respected coaches in the country. He's a top tier coach. I thought it was a great opportunity to get the experience and learn a lot from him and the coaching staff.

"... He's one of the hardest workers I've ever been around. He's a gym rat and always in the office. He's always thinking ahead. He's a special person."

Before taking the Texas job, he saw that his former team, UConn, will visit Austin on Dec. 29. The two teams also could meet in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas in late November.

Evans still has ties to UConn. He played with Omar Calhoun and Phil Nolan and, of course, knows the coaching staff. He recently talked to director of basketball administration coach Kevin Freeman.

"I'm excited to have them come down, so that's cool," Evans said.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe