College Park Skyhawks Name Aaron Evans As General Manager And Steve Klei As Head Coach

COLLEGE PARK, Ga. – The College Park Skyhawks today announced Aaron Evans as the team’s fourth general manager in franchise history, while Steve Klei (pronounced Kly) has been named as the franchise’s fourth head coach. In addition to serving as College Park’s head coach, Klei will remain an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks under Head Coach Quin Snyder.

Evans takes over for Daniel Starkman, who was promoted to vice president of player personnel for the Hawks. Ryan Schmidt, who led College Park to its best defensive season in franchise history as Skyhawks head coach last season, will serve as a full-time assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks after sharing responsibilities between the Hawks and Skyhawks last season.

“I’m beyond grateful for the opportunity, and want to thank Landry, Kyle, and the rest of the front office for their belief in me. I’m thankful for the numerous people in the Hawks organization that have helped me grow over the last couple of years and continue to support me daily. Having started with College Park as a basketball operations assistant, this is a full circle moment and one that I couldn’t be more excited for,” said Evans. “I look forward to working alongside Coach Klei and the Skyhawks staff, as well as with the entire Hawks staff to build upon the vision of both player and staff development on and off the court.”

“It is an incredible honor to be named the next head coach of the College Park Skyhawks and continue as an assistant on the Hawks coaching staff. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity and the belief that Landry, Kyle, and Quin have instilled, and I’m honored to play a part in helping carry out the greater vision of the Skyhawks and Hawks,” said Klei. “I couldn’t be more excited to work alongside Aaron and our staff to put together a team that will continue to emphasize our commitment to development, and that will both compete and be a joy for our fans to watch.”

Evans enters his third season with College Park, having served as the assistant general manager of the Skyhawks during the 2023-24 season. Evans played a key role in helping to construct the roster of the best defensive team in College Park history, which saw the Skyhawks finish atop the league in multiple defensive categories and break numerous franchise records. He began with College Park as a basketball operations seasonal assistant in 2022-23 before his promotion to assistant general manager.

“Aaron and Steve are both deserving of this opportunity. The Skyhawks are an integral part of our player development process, and we are excited to promote and grow their careers with our organization,” said Atlanta Hawks General Manager Landry Fields. “Moving into the general manager role represents a great opportunity for Aaron, who spent the last two seasons helping to build the Skyhawks into an extension of the Hawks. Steve has been a valuable member of Coach Snyder’s staff since his arrival and brings a diversity of coaching and player development expertise from his experiences in the NBA, G League and Europe.”

Before joining the Skyhawks, Evans spent three years as director of basketball operations for the men’s basketball program at IUPUI, including one season as an assistant coach. Before joining IUPUI, Evans spent three seasons on staff at nearby Marian University, helping the Knights to an NAIA Elite Eight appearance in 2018 and an NAIA Final Four finish in 2019.

During his playing career at Marian, Evans was a two a two-time NAIA All-American, earning those honors in 2011-12 and 2013-14. He was also a three-time All-Crossroads Conference performer, a two-time team captain and a Capital One Academic All-District Team member. Before transferring to Marian, Evans earned All-CCAC first team honors and was named CCAC Newcomer of the Year at Purdue University Calumet. He also holds the single-game scoring record at Purdue-Calumet with a 51-point performance.

Klei spent 2023-24 and part of the 2022-23 season in Atlanta as a Hawks assistant coach. During the first part of the 2022-23 season, he was director of player development with Italian professional team Olimpia Milano, competing in the EuroLeague during his time in Milan.

"Steve has such an incredible feel for the game and brings a unique and thoughtful voice to our entire program. Being a head coach at the G League level is a valuable experience with a proven pipeline to NBA success and organizationally, we view the head coach position with the Skyhawks as a major component of our Hawks coaching staff," said Atlanta Hawks Head Coach Quin Snyder. "With player development and internal improvement as crucial parts of our program, having a high-level connector is critical and we are confident that Steve will excel in this role."

Klei worked alongside Synder with the Utah Jazz from 2016-22, spending time in the DAV program, including as head video coordinator prior to becoming a coaching associate. During Klei’s time in Utah, the Jazz reached the playoffs in all six seasons, including three trips to the Western Conference Semifinals and three division championships, going back-to-back in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

Prior to his time in Utah, Klei spent the 2015-16 season with the Canton Charge (now Cleveland Charge), the NBA G League affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, as a basketball operations assistant under current Brooklyn Nets Head Coach Jordi Fernandez, and current Cleveland Cavaliers General Manager Mike Gansey. As part of Fernandez’s staff, Klei helped guide the Charge to a 31-19 regular season record, advancing to the second round of the NBA G League playoffs.

A native of Northport, New York, Klei attended Indiana University where he was a manager on the men’s basketball team under Tom Crean from 2011-15 and graduated with a degree in Kinesiology, Sports Marketing and Management.

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