Zachary Evans, one of the most dominant players in the 2020 recruiting class, announced his top five schools on Tuesday evening.
In a twitter post, he named Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State and Oklahoma as the contenders.
“It has truly been a blessing and and an amazing experience but at this time I have decided to focus on these FIVE schools,” he wrote.
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That list is made up of schools that are perennially among the top, but there is an absence that has come to be expected from top players in the area: The North Shore High School (Houston) running excluded both Texas schools in his top 11 from his final five.
— T H R E E (@Runzekerun01) May 28, 2019
Texas and Texas A&M were on his initial 11 schools. The Longhorns were leading on 247Sports’ crystal ball, though it was a small sample size of the site’s experts (29% said Texas, 43% were still undecided, as of Tuesday evening).
“You don’t know how to put it,” Evans said to 247Sports. ““I don’t want to be disrespectful. I ain’t saying (Texas) can’t win a natty. It’s just at the moment [Texas is] not quite there.”
That’s tough news for the Longhorns, which comes on the tail of five-star 2019 recruit and early enrollee Bru McCoy reportedly considering a transfer back to USC.
It seemed like things were looking up for Texas, who last year had their first 10-win season since 2011 and beat Georgia 28-21 in the Sugar Bowl.
“You beat Georgia but you barely beat Georgia. What about when it comes to a Bama or go to a Clemson?” Evans said to 247Sports.
Of course, Georgia is in his top five, but Evans clearly thinks the Bulldogs are closer to dethroning Alabama than Texas is.
“It just really comes with the competition,” Evans said. “They say the SEC is like the NFL, so I’m trying to be down pat.”
Texas A&M, the other in-state school he was considering, is entering its second year under head coach Jimbo Fisher but looking for its first 10-win season since 2012.
With that in mind, it looks like Evans will be leaving the state once he graduates high school.
As a junior, Evans rushed for 1,785 yards and 29 touchdowns while leading North Shore to a state championship.
He was subsequently named to the ALL-USA First Team Offense.