re: Rashaan Evans opens up about his recruitment and more....

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Nodody told Alan Evans he would start right away.

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How has your dad, who was highly recruited out of high school, helped you through this process?

Evans: “He helps me out a lot. He had a similar situation with just the fact being highly recruited and also having letdowns. The fact is he was more highly recruited than Bo Jackson was coming out of high school. As soon as he got there he seen a guy — he didn’t even know about Bo Jackson. All he heard was, ‘Alan, Alan, Alan. Alan you’re this, Alan you’re that. Alan you’re going to be this.’ He said when he got on campus he seen this big dude walk in. He didn’t know who he was. He told me he had big thighs, big calves, big arms. He didn’t know who he was. He thought this dude was a linebacker or something. Come to find out the first practice this dude at running back. The coaches were telling him he was going to start and be the running back, then all of the sudden he sees this guy getting snaps. What really tripped him out was the ability he had. This guy was running over people, jumping over people, running past people. What really tripped him out was the speed. He was like, ‘Bo Jackson had some abnormal-type speed.’ He said whenever he ran and you ran beside him, you could feel the pressure of him whenever he would move. It was weird. Whenever he left you, he left you. It was almost the difference between a Hyundai or, say, a Ferrari or Lamborghini. He could run the same speed as you, because he’s that fast, but when he wants to leave you it’s effortless. He jus goes and you’re sitting there running, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re just like, ‘Oh my God, this dude’s fast.’ When he saw that he was like, ‘Dang, they didn’t tell me about this dude. They told me I was going to be the starter.’ Then he came in and ended up being like third or fourth string … and he was the most highly recruited out of high school of all them running backs. A lot of situations that went on with him in college, it still haunts him to this day. Like, he can’t get over it. It just was something that — football, like me, football is my passion. I live it, I breathe it. If I didn’t have football, I don’t know what I’d be doing. I’d probably be doing something very bad right now. I’ve been around it so long. When I was a kid I was introduced to it and I was baptized in it. It was something I was built for. A lot of kids ain’t built for football, but my dad literally put me through everything you had to be put through to be a great player. Going back to the situation he had, he still harps on that. He just doesn’t want that to repeat itself, history-wise, with me going to a place and having a bad situation where coaches are dishonest with me and things and I come over there and they tell me I’m going to start and end up being third string like he did. He also told me to never be afraid of competition. That’s something I’m never going to be afraid of. I’m a competitive player. I’m coming to college to be the best.

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