FORT MYERS, Fla. -- FGCU men's golf has signed University of North Georgia transfer Evan Thompson, head coach Andrew Danna announced Thursday.

A Lawrenceville, Ga. native, Thompson has spent the past three seasons with the Nighthawks. In 2022-23, he is averaging 71.00 over 24 rounds of play, and has notched six top 10s, three top 5s finishes, and one individual win.

Thompson is currently ranked as the fifth-best NCAA Division II player, according to Golfstat.com, and No. 538 in the Scratch Players World Ranking.

"We are excited to have Evan join us next year," Danna said. "He has a lot of experience, and is a great student. I look forward to seeing Evan's leadership and impact on our program for the future."

Thompson won the 2023 State Farm Tennessee Rumble, shooting a second-round 66 to finish 10-under for the event. He also posted a second-place finish at the Hurricane Invitational with a 6-under-par performance after opening the tournament with a 67.

His numerous accolades include being named to the 2022 Peach Belt Conference All-Tournament Team, a 2022 GCAA Division II PING All-American Honorable Mention, 2021-22 Peach Belt All-Conference First Team selection, 2021-22 GCAA PING All-Region Team member and to the 2020-21 Peach Belt Conference Presidential Honor Roll.

In amateur events, Thompson secured two top-10 performances at both the 2022 Georgia State Amateur and The Thunderbolt Invitational, tying for seventh at each event.

Thompson now joins Christian Figueredo, Brody Stevenson, and Sebastian Gamboa as the fourth future Eagle that has put pen to paper to further their academic and athletic careers in the City of Palms and to help propel FGCU back to the NCAA Tournament.

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HEAD COACH ANDREW DANNA
Danna is in his fourth year at the helm of the men's golf program with the Eagles earning FGCU's first-ever NCAA Tournament at-large berth in department history during the 2022 season. He has led the Eagles to second-place finishes at the 2021 and 2022 ASUN Championships and was named the program's first-ever ASUN Coach of the Year (2021) and repeated in 2022. One of the best turnarounds in NCAA history saw the Green and Blue, led by Van Holmgren who became the first player to earn PING All-Region honors, jump from No. 257 in the final 2019-20 GolfStat.com rankings to a then program-best 65 to close out 2020-21. The Eagles set a new program-best during the 2022 season at No. 47 in the GolfStat.com rankings. Holmgren won the ASUN Championship individual title to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. Before taking over in Fort Myers, he served the 2018-19 season as the assistant at LSU. Prior to that he was the ultra-successful head coach for six years at Lynn University where he led them to the 2018 NCAA Division II national championship and was, subsequently, chosen the David Williams National Coach of the Year. He also led the Fighting Knights to three national runner-up placements, with a third and eighth place finish in his other two seasons.

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ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 96 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 48 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20 in 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.67 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.

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