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Sting Factor: Tiyon Evans backs off of Vols commit

Every time a major program loses a key recruit, Rivals.com takes a look at how big of a blow it is to the respective school, analyzing it from a local and national level. To quantify the “sting” of each decommitment, we assign a score from 1-10, with one being no big deal and 10 being a catastrophic hit.

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MORE STING FACTOR: Phillip Riley decommits from Notre Dame | Casey Phinney

CLASS OF 2021 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

CLASS OF 2022 RANKINGS: Rivals250 | Position | Team | State

COVERAGE: Rivals Transfer Tracker | Rivals Camp Series

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THE SITUATION

Only a few days ago, junior college running back Tiyon Evans talked about his commitment to Tennessee in glowing terms, about how his relationship with the coaching staff stood out so much and how he could come play for the Volunteers and put them on top in the SEC.

Just days later, the Hutchinson (Kan.) Hutchinson C.C. had backed off his pledge to the Vols, catching a lot of people by surprise and reopening his recruitment.

Originally from Hartsville, S.C., the Gamecocks along with Oklahoma State and others could be in the running for Evans’ pledge and Tennessee is not completely out of his recruitment, either, although that might be a tougher sell now.

Whether accurate or not, there have been numerous comparisons made between Evans and former Hutchinson and Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara, so Evans’ decommitment from the Vols could be a major loss for a team looking to become an SEC East power.

With excellent relationships in Knoxville, but never visiting there, Tennessee remains in his recruitment but South Carolina has to be considered a major player now.

The Vols have running back pledges already from four-star running back Cody Brown and three-star Jaylen Wright.

LOCAL REACTION

“The decommitment came out of left field as Evans told Volquest that things were perfect just over a week ago. It caught Tennessee off guard but the Vols will continue to work to get him back in the boat. The Vols had three running backs committed in this 2021 class so that alone makes the loss not a direct hit to the position or class but Tennessee thinks very highly of Evans so thus it does have some effect. Jay Graham has continued to work other backs in this class behind the scenes in case this scenario arose so it will be interesting to see what road they go down. I’m not betting against Evans ending up back in this class.” - Austin Price, Volquest.com

Sting factor: 6

NATIONAL REACTION

“This one hurts because the Vols really liked Evans and it’s confusing because he doesn’t seem to have another plan. That being said he could easily end up back in this class. If they lose him for good they’re losing a back who is college ready and set for immediate impact.” — Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director

Sting factor: 6

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH TENNESSEE FANS AT VOLQUEST.COM

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