Sawvell commits to Evansville

Ryan Sawvell says when his dad was 17, he made the decision to start his own business.

Today, Sawvell Tree Service is still cutting it, so to speak.

"He's been a hard worker his whole life," Sawvell said of his father, Ray. "I think that's why I play so hard all the time."

As Ryan enters his senior year at Mundelein, he, too, has big plans for his future. He made the decision last week to accept to Division I basketball scholarship from the University of Evansville in Indiana. An athletic 6-foot-8, 195-pound forward who can play both inside and outside, Sawvell averaged 19.4 points and 9.1 rebounds last winter in his second season as a varsity starter. He also swatted 42 shots for head coach Dick Knar's Mustangs.

Sawvell said he also received scholarship offers from Central Michigan, Loyola, Illinois State and Valparaiso.

At Evansville, Sawvell will play for head coach Marty Simmons, a former UE player who's considered one of the best to ever play for the Purple Aces. Simmons will be entering his fourth season at the helm.

"The main reason why I chose (Evansville) was because I was very comfortable with Coach Simmons," said Sawvell, the youngest of three boys of Ray and Christine. "He's very similar to my high school coach, Coach Knar, and the staff is very similar to our high school staff. It's like a family environment there. Coach Simmons reminds me of Coach Knar - and my dad."

Evansville's passionate fans also appealed to Sawvell, who said he's been told that "they treat all the basketball players like gods." A new basketball arena for the Purple Aces is in the process of being built and should be completed by Sawvell's freshman year.

Evansville went only 9-21, including 3-15 in the Missouri Valley Conference, last season. But the Purple Aces were a young squad and did boast the MVC freshman of the year in 6-5 forward/guard Colt Ryan.

Sawvell has made two unofficial visits to Evansville's campus, one with his parents and one with Knar.

"I'm very excited," Sawvell said. "I could not be any happier with the choice I made."

While his summer basketball season of AAU with Rising Stars awaits him, Sawvell had no desire to wait out any possible offers from larger schools.

"I really wasn't waiting a specific school to offer me a scholarship," Sawvell said, as he and his high school teammates prepared to play the first of two games Wednesday night in the Stevenson league. The Mustangs began the night 4-0. "I thought I had a wide variety of offers so I figured there was no need to wait."

As is his persona, Sawvell just wants to get down to working hard and playing basketball at a high rate.

"(Evansville's) whole coaching staff has a blue-collar mentality, like my dad," he said. "They work hard, and I respect that."