HOUSTON - The last month - and really this past fall - has had its shares of ups and downs for Zach Evans.
The North Shore running back has made national headlines for all the wrong reasons and the drama has continued even past his early graduation. But let's start at the beginning.
The First Suspension
Following the season-opener against Katy, Evans was suspended for the next two non-district games. Evans did return to play the rest of the season.
Sent Home from State
The No. 1-rated prospect in the Class of 2020 would not play in North Shore's bid for a second-straight state title. On December 20, Evans was sent home from Arlington after not giving his phone to coaches when asked to do so. According to sources, Evans was asked multiple times for it, including even his mother being called about it. The decision to suspend Evans for the title game went all the way up the chain to include the Galena Park ISD Athletic Director and Superintendent. In the end, Evans was sent home.
Evans did not play a factor in North Shore's 31-17 victory over Duncanville on December 21 for the program's second-straight state title.
Commit or Don't Commit? Announce or don't Announce?
With his high school playing career over, next was where would Evans go to play college?
The highly-touted prospect had eluded to making his announcement multiple times on social media during the fall but always backed away from making an announcement. The most recent announcement that Evans eluded to was during the Under Armour All-American Game on January 2, which was nationally-televised on ESPN2.
Just hours before the game, it was announced that Evans would not announce his college decision.
During the broadcast the five-star prospect gave an interview with ESPN.
"First and foremost I want to apologize to all of my college coaches for everything that's going on and what they're hearing," Evans said during the interview. "I'm really a good kid. I came in, I learned from some former professionals on how to overcome adversity.
"It was stupid, it was an immature decision, I was being selfish to me teammates," Evans said about being suspended for the state title game. "I'm ready to come in and show that I'm ready."
Released from NLI
What many didn't know, that is known now is at the time of the Under Armour All-American game, Evans had already submitted his NLI to Georgia according to multiple media reports.
According to a report by 24/7 Sports on Tuesday, Evans was released from that letter and his SEC financial aid agreement, which now allows Evans, the No. 1 running back prospect in the 2020 class, to sign with whoever he wants.
So what's next?
Evans is still a highly-touted recruit when it comes to on the field. In his time at North Shore the running back hasn't suffered any major injuries, staying relatively healthy. His number of reps on the field have been limited as well, which means he has relatively fresh legs.
According to reports, Texas Bowl Champion Texas A&M and No. 1 LSU could be suitors for Evans. The Aggies could be most likely considering their need at running back. If Evans was to go to Texas A&M, he would join a backfield of Fort Bend Marshall's Devon Achane, who signed with the Aggies in December, and former Klein Collins running back Isaiah Spiller, who rushed for nearly 950 yards his freshman season.
We will just all have to sit back and wait and see what's next.
