Zach Evans 'Wanted To Recruit' To Ole Miss Following Transfer
OXFORD, Miss. -- Zach Evans was an early addition to Ole Miss' roster during transfer portal season, but he is expected to make a big impact in the Rebels' backfield this fall.
Evans was made available to media following spring practice on Thursday, and he chose to transfer to Ole Miss after playing a year at TCU. The running back states that his adjustment to life in the SEC has been positive throughout spring ball.
"It's treating me really well," Evans said. It's a big difference coming from the Big 12 to the SEC, but I'm loving it.
"I don't feel a ton of expectations, but I do feel a difference. I feel like I have a point to prove. A lot of people feel that competition in the Big 12 is weaker, so I just want to show that I can be able to adapt."
Jerome Miron, USA Today
Once Evans made up his mind to enter the transfer portal, his eye was immediately locked on one conference: the SEC.
"SEC is where I wanted to go," Evans said. "My top two coming into it were probably A&M and Ole Miss, but I knew where I wanted to go. I didn't really want to stay in Texas."
Evans was highly recruited out of high school, and Ole Miss was on his list of schools under consideration. Once he entered the portal, however, he found the recruiting process starting all over again.
"In a way, it's about going through recruiting again," Evans said. "When you hit [the portal], you're still going to be in classes and stuff, but you've got to already have it around your head where you want to go. The portal happens fast. Everything happens fast."
Once Evans pulled the trigger on coming to Oxford, he immediately went into "recruiting mode," seeing if he could get any other portal players to follow his path.
"I wanted to recruit," Evans said. "I wanted to help get us some players. I looked towards [Jaxson] Dart's way, and I saw [Michael] Trigg hit the portal, so I obviously texted them."
One of the biggest headlines of Ole Miss' spring camp is the quarterback battle to replace Matt Corral. Jaxson Dart and Luke Altmyer are the leaders in the clubhouse for the position, and the new Rebel running back shared his thoughts on that competition and where it stands in early April.
"Both of those boys have a rifle connected to their arms," Evans said. "I can't speak much about their situation, but some go with the ones one day and the twos the next day. Sometimes we just alternate to see who's going to be hot."
The Rebels are coming off a historic campaign in 2021 where it won 10 regular season games for the first time in program history and earned a berth in the Sugar Bowl. Ole Miss will open its 2022 season at home against Troy in September.
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