Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
TAKE TWO: Is it Alabama, Clemson - and everyone else?
THE STORYLINE
The saga of Zachary Evans’ recruitment took another interesting turn this past weekend when the five-star running back took visits to Texas A&M, LSU and Georgia.
The Houston (Texas) North Shore star surprised a lot of people when he released a top five of Ohio State, Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma and Georgia. Since that time, Evans has made trips to Texas A&M and Texas as both in-state program seem to be staying in his recruitment.
Georgia is an interesting school to visit, especially since the Bulldogs are clearly in the running to land the commitment of five-star running back Kendall Milton when he decides Monday evening.
But Evans’ trip to College Station could be even more interesting. He’s been to campus numerous times, coach Jimbo Fisher and his staff are clearly making the five-star running back a major priority and he knows a lot of people on the team or in this recruiting class.
Can it be that Milton and Evans could both end up in Georgia’s recruiting class - don’t forget just two recruiting classes ago the Bulldogs signed five-star running backs James Cook and Zamir White in the same class - or is it more likely that Texas A&M is truly emerging as a major player in Evans’ recruitment despite the Aggies not being included in his top five?
FIRST TAKE: JAKE REUSE, UGASPORTS.COM
“The possibility is there. I don’t know if people feel the chances are high of that happening of them playing together. Evans has shown up in Athens plenty of times to indicate he is seriously interested in what they have to offer. There is a bit of optimism on Georgia’s side but realistically it could be a situation where I can’t see them turning down a guy like Tank Bigsby in order to wait for Evans. It’s going to have to be a first-come, first-serve type of deal when it comes to Georgia with the running back spot. There is some optimism though because he keeps showing up.
“It definitely matters he went to A&M. He didn’t include them in the top five but behind the scenes we consistently hear the Texas schools are still sitting well for him and they’re probably a much bigger threat than he’s letting on. A lot of people would be surprised if he gets out of the state in the end. It’s hard to pull kids out of Texas to a degree. It’s a good sign for the Aggies that they got him back on campus and they’re building a class with guys he’s pretty familiar with so that’s working in their favor as well.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“Texas A&M is the more important visit there. I can’t see Milton and Zach Evans both going to Georgia. I can see Georgia getting one of them but not both. It seems like the Bulldogs are in good shape for Kendall Milton.
“Texas A&M continues to come up in conversations when it comes to Evans and all the people he knows there and the proximity to home and how heavily they’re recruiting him. He came out with that top five and it didn’t have Texas or Texas A&M on there and I though A&M was the threat and is still the threat. That top five list doesn’t matter anymore. Texas A&M is going to be in this until the end.”
