Evans expands offer list

River Ridge (La.) John Curtis linebacker Nathaniel Evans entered the week holding scholarship offers from Louisiana-Lafayette, Troy, Tulane, and Western Kentucky. On Tuesday he learned Southern Miss was extending an offer.

The Golden Eagles have been on Evans' radar for sometime now, and he has been on theirs.

"I first got in contact with Southern Miss last year during the spring," Evans said. "I didn't really have a name back then but they were there recruiting Hunter (Dale), Bo (Wallace), and Myles Washington and coach Simon and I got introduced to each other. Then he called and we talked and he told me I had an offer from Southern Miss."

He has not had a chance to do much research on the Southern Miss program, but he will visit Hattiesburg in the near future.

"The only coach I know is coach Simon, but I plan on meeting them when I go up there to visit," Evans said. "I'm not going strictly for football. I'm going to be up there for my little brother's track meet and I was going to go up there for that."

Evans plans to visit Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday, and he has a few more visits planned.

"I have Boise State April 11," Evans said. "Mississippi State, I can't remember the date off the top of my head. I want to say April 19 for their spring game and I'll visit them during the summer."

He has already taken visits to Texas and Ole Miss. His most recent trip was to Texas and the Longhorns left a strong impression.

"Well, Texas is one of my favorite schools," Evans said. "They haven't offered but it was a great visit. I really like Texas, so they are very high on my charts. What stood out was just the coaching staff and the environment and the hospitality. They were very high with the education and I really like that that they're strong about their education."

The visit to Ole Miss also caught his attention.

"Ole Miss has a very home feel," Evans said. "If it was to come down between Texas and Ole Miss it would be a very hard decision. That's how much I like both teams. I like the defense and I got to meet the coaching staff. I'm going back up there probably sometime this summer to get to know them even more. I can't wait. I really like Ole Miss."

Evans is also receiving interest from Texas, Texas Tech, Utah, Boise State, and South Carolina, and he is keeping his options open at this time.

"I'm just very open in my recruitment and taking it all in and having fun with it," Evans said. "I want to probably during the season sometime break it down to my top schools and take visits and make a decision before or on Signing Day. I just want to start early so I can start building a relationship with the school I'll be going to quite early."

While he is keeping an open mind to the recruiting process, he does know what he is looking for in a future college destination.

"Just a place where I'm wanted," Evans said. "Somewhere I could feel is another home for me. I take education very seriously so I want to go somewhere I can get a good education as well as a good football program. Hopefully I get to campus and make an impact early whether that's on special teams or a starting position."

Evans is currently ranked No. 42 in the Rivals.com Louisiana Postseason Top 45.