Two-star backs out of Vandy commit

Baton Rouge (La.) St. Michael offensive guard Evan Ruiz has had a change of heart. The two-star has been committed to play for Vanderbilt since July but this fall, he made the decision that the Commodores may not be the right fit for him.

"I'm not committed to Vanderbilt anymore," Ruiz said. "It wasn't the right thing for me to do. I withdrew a couple months ago."

The change of heart had more to do with off-the-field factors than anything else.

"It just seems like such a hard school to survive in academically," he said. "It was a premature commitment. I didn't look into it enough. After doing some research, I realized that in the classroom most of the people have 4.0 GPAs and really high test scores. It just seems like such a tough school to survive in academically."

Ruiz is now looking to get his name back out in the open market but doesn't want to lower his expectations. Some in-state schools have been calling the 6-foot-4 282-pounder and this past weekend he took an unofficial visit to Tulane.

"I'm trying to get back on the market," he said. "ULM has been calling me. I want a few SEC schools to call me or some high D-Is. Playing in the SEC has always been my dream but if it doesn't happen that will be ok."