Earl Joseph Evans II was born in Port Arthur, Texas. He was a 1974 graduate of Port Arthur Abraham Lincoln High School. While at Lincoln, he was a 3-year letterman in basketball, averaging 28 points and 19 rebounds per game, and was the Texas High School Player of the Year his senior year in 1974. Earl was a Parade All-America, ranked as the second-best player in the nation behind Moses Malone, and was selected to play in the National High School All-Star games in New York and Kentucky. “Without a doubt, he was the best player I’ve ever coached as well as one of the best high school basketball players that I ever saw,” said legendary Lincoln coach James Gamble. Gamble is also in the Texas High School Sports Hall of Fame.
 
After being heavily recruited by schools from coast to coast, the 6’8” Evans chose to sign with the University of Southern California. He left after two seasons and transferred to the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. After his junior season, he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons during the eighth round of the 1978 NBA draft, but he returned to UNLV and, in 55 games, averaged 17.9 points his senior year.
 
One of his college career highlights was outplaying future NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird in the Pizza Hut All-Star Classic after his senior season. 
 
Evans played one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Detroit Pistons during the 1979–80 season. Earl averaged 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds; however, his NBA career was shortened due to injuries.