Lee Evans was born on February 25, 1947, in Madera, California. At the age of four, Evans moved to Fresno where he would attend Madison Elementary School for eight years. In his last year at Madison Elementary, he trained for his first race by racing his friends at school. Evans went to Central Union High School where he was classified in the C class for the 660 yd dash due to his height, weight, and age. Due to his mother contracting Valley Fever the Evans’ family moved to San Jose, California, during Lee's sophomore year. While running for Overfelt High School, Evans was undefeated in his high school career, improving his 440-yard time from 48.2 in 1964 to 46.9 in 1965. Evans was granted the prestige of being a Fulbright Scholar. He attended San Jose State, where he was coached by Hall of Famer Lloyd (Bud) Winter. As a freshman, he won his first AAU championship in 440 yd (402.34 m) in 1966. He won the AAU title four years in a row (1966–1969) and again in 1972 and added the NCAA 400 m title in 1968. His only defeat during that streak came at the hands of San Jose State teammate Tommie Smith. The two were so competitive, Winter could not let them practice together.