Pruitt: Vols Feel Like RB Signee Evans 'is One of the Premier Running Backs In the Country'

It was an up and down relationship for Tennessee and junior college running back leading up to signing day. Evans announced a commitment to Tennessee early in the recruiting cycle that even surprised the Tennessee coaching staff, but after staying committed for several months, he backed off the pledge and re-opened his recruitment, only to re-commit a month or so later. 

At the time of that re-commitment in November, he told VR2 on SI, "when I opened my recruitment back up, I initially thought Tennessee was going to back off of. I thought they would feel like I was not interested in them anymore, but they actually picked up the recruitment even stronger. From them showing their relentless effort, that alone shows me they have the best interest for me. At the same time, I have been talking to them the longest. They were the first team I ever talked to. For them to pick up even more after I de-committed, that was the sign that showed me that was the place for me."

Jeremy Pruitt revealed the reason why the Vols remained so loyal to Evans through the process during his early signing period recap, as he said, "“The next young man is Tiyon Evans from Hartsville, South Carolina. He’s at Hutchinson Community College right now. A guy that we felt like is one of the premier running backs in the country. A guy that will be here midyear also. We’ll be excited to get him – feel like he’s a guy that can play all three downs. Has return ability. He’s probably 220 pounds. Really good hands out of the backfield, good blocker. A guy that can make you miss, can run with power, can run in between the tackles, can get out there on the perimeter. A guy that has lots of explosive ability. "

Pruitt added, " Tiyon is a pretty interesting guy. He’s never been on our campus, so that’s the way a lot of this has been in recruiting, unfortunately for a lot of these kids. Not just the guys we’ve recruited but other guys also. Again, this recruiting cycle has been unlike any I have ever been a part of before because of that. The lack of opportunities to build relationships personally – there’s nothing like sitting down, sitting in a room, for a young man to get to spend time with players on our campus, or academics, or the strength staff, or player development, the position coach, the coordinator – so, we’ve really had to work hard to do it through Zoom. It’s been unusual. I think Tiyon is a guy, again, like I said, I think he’s got a chance to be a dynamic player. We’re excited to have him."

With no junior college season being played this fall, Evans will now have three years of eligibility to play on Rocky Top, and he should be an intriguing complement to Eric Gray.