2009 WR opening eyes
A new star is being born in wide receiver Shaquelle Evans (6-2, 190, 4.5) from Inglewood, Calif. He blew up during his opening game last Friday and because of his performance the Inglewood coaching staff already received a phone call. Not bad when you consider that Evans is only a junior.
The word on Evan's spread fast after his performance on Friday and USC linebacker coach Ken Norton Jr. called the Inglewood staff to let them know that the Trojans are definitely interested in their hotshot receiver.
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USC isn't the only school that has their sights on Evans. Cross town rival UCLA has also shown interest and Evans was spotted at a Bruin practice during training camp.
The Washington Huskies are also heavily in the hunt and they have created positive contact with Inglewood with how they recruited Husky commit, David Freeman.
Inglewood assistant coach Khalid Ali the coach in charge of recruiting let Rivals.com the whole Pac is already showing interest in his talented wide receiver.
West coast schools aren't the only ones that have already expressed interest in Evans. Florida, Miami and Texas A&M are also already aware of him.
Evans has been a local Pop Warner legend for awhile and now he's beginning to create another legend on the high school level and it began in his first game for the freshman team two years ago.
"What makes Shag so special is his ability to make plays," Ali said. "In his first game as a freshman we were struggling and fell behind. The crowd started to get restless and kept hearing put in Shaq. Let Shaq play, stuff like that.
"Our freshman coach said that Shaq can't play because he just received his equipment a few prior to our game and didn't the plays yet," Ali said. "One of his Pop Warner coaches was on the sidelines and said that we should 'just run Shaq sweep right and sweep left'.
"That's what we did and we got back into the game. We ended up losing the game because we missed an extra point, but Shaq's legend on the high school level began.
"Shaq is a very likable young man who is quiet and reserved," Ali said. "You can't even hear him if he was talking 10 feet away, but once he gets between the lines his competitive spirit comes out and comes alive.
"Shaq has that excellent combination of speed and power," Ali said. "He isn't afraid of contact whether he supplies it as a cornerback or takes the hit as a wide receiver.
"Shaq is fearless and his concentration in traffic is high. You don't have to worry about him getting alligator arms.
"Shaq was phenomenal in our first game last Friday Night," Ali said. "He caught 10 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown.
"When watching Shaq's touchdown on tape," Ali said. "The defensive back was right there on him in the frame and then after two steps you never see him again.
"What makes so special is he's just as good in the classroom as he is on the football field," Ali said. "He holds himself up to a high standards. He's not trying to get for half price.
"By the time Shaq is a senior, I think he will be one of the most highest recruited wide receivers in California because of the all the things I mentioned before.
As a sophomore Evans caught 16 passes for approximately 300 yards and three touchdowns. He is also an outstanding kick returner who returned one kick back 97 yards and one touchdown.
This won't be the last you here of Shaquelle Evans.