You can say one thing about former Hartsville RB Tiyon Evans (5-10 200), now at Hutchinson JC, KS…when it comes to recruiting, expect the unexpected. On April 30th, Evans unexpectedly committed to Tennessee over USC and others. Saturday night, Evans unexpectedly decommitted from Tennessee just five days after telling VolQuest in a video interview that he was locked in with his commitment to the Vols. Adding to the saga, Evans is sacrificing a sure thing with Tennessee with the great unknown of reopening his recruiting.
“I’m basically starting from scratch,” Evans said. “I still have Tennessee as an option, but if things go wrong and the scholarship for me ends up going somewhere else…at the end of the day I am taking the time to see what my possibilities are. I guess we’ll have to see how it goes. It was a risk decommitting, but it could be my best decision too.”
At the time of his commitment, Evans also had USC, Maryland, Auburn and East Carolina as potential options. He admitted Saturday night that he goes back onto the recruiting market with no sure things in his grasp.
“I haven’t been communicating with no one,” Evans said. “I just decided to open my recruiting back up because I felt like I rushed things. I felt like I should really look into this more. The place I’m going to be going to is where I’m at, so I’m not leaving. And I have a family as well. I have a son on the way in December, so I have to make sure everything is going to be straight with him. Wherever I go, that’s where my family is going to be.”
Evans put his decommitment out via Twitter saying he did so after conversing with his mother. He also did it before notifying coaches at Tennessee.
“I admit, I did it wrong,” Evans said. “The way I decommitted, I did it wrong. I should have handled that differently, but that’s behind us now. I ended up talking to one of them, and I’m going to talk to them tomorrow (Sunday). I just don’t feel like going thru all that tonight.”
Evans has no idea if USC or any of the old suitors will reach back out to him. The Gamecocks already have two running backs commitment. Evans said at this point, all of his options are open. And his plan is to graduate in December, and since Hutchinson won’t play until the spring, Evans will still have three years of eligibility.
Last season Evans rushed for 538 yards and 9 touchdowns. He is ranked in the 247Sports Composite as the #1 running back in the junior college ranks.
