2025 four-star wing Amari Evans announced his commitment to Tennessee basketball on Friday night prior to his first game of his senior season. The four-star picked the Vols over Pittsburgh and Xavier.
Evans is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 80 overall player in the country. The Pittsburgh, Pa. native who is entering his second season with Overtime Elite in Atlanta, Ga. is ranked as the No. 18 overall small forward and the 11th-best player in the Peach State. Evans plans on signing during the early signing period later this month.
“I feel like Tennessee fits my game to a tee,” Evans told GoVols247 prior to announcing his decision publicly. “Everything they do and the way they play, I feel like I’m going to be able to fit right in and pick things up fast.
“I’m a hard worker, I’m tough, I’ll do anything to win and I’m reliable. High-level defender and a knockdown shooter with an unlimited motor. That’s Tennessee basketball.”
It didn’t take long for Evans to establish Tennessee as one of his favorite schools, if not the frontrunner, throughout his recruitment. His interest in the Vols picked up steam while in attendance for one of the Vols’ home games last season. He noticed how hard Rick Barnes was coaching Dalton Knecht and knew right away that the culture at UT was exactly what he was looking for.
“After I committed, Coach Barnes told me that he loved, so you tell me what that says about our relationship,” Evans said with a laugh. “Watching him coach Dalton hard just showed me that he’s tough on everybody, no matter who you are. Then when me and him really started talking, I started to learn that he’s a good person with a great personality and stuff.”
It wasn’t just the relationship with Tennessee’s 10th-year head coach that helped Evans come to his decision. In fact, his relationship with assistant coach Rod Clark was the biggest factor in Evans’ interest in the Vols.
“Coach Rod, that’s my main man,” Evans said. “I feel like, even if I didn’t go to Tennessee, me and Coach Rod would still have a relationship. Me and him have just been locked in ever since the first time we talked. He understands what my goal is. He understands what I’m trying to get to in my basketball career and as a person. I feel like while I’m there, if times ever get hard, he’ll always be there for me.”
As if being close with Barnes and Clark weren’t enough to make Evans feel at home on Rocky Top, Vols star point guard Zakai Zeigler helped complete the trifecta.
Evans previously played with the same AAU program, Lightning Basketball, that Zeigler played with, and is “cool” with Zeigler’s little brother. He would go watch Zeigler play on the Lightning’s 17u team when he was in eighth grade.
“When I was on my visit, I asked Zakai probably 100 questions,” Evans said. “He told me, ‘it’s gonna be hard, nothing is going to be easy.’ In my basketball career, I’ve faced a lot of adversity, and that’s made me the player I am today. So I’m not going to shy away from it. I don’t want anything easy. I feel like if it was easy, everybody would do it.”
Tennessee hosted Evans the final weekend of August on an official visit. It was his second visit with the Vols, as he took an unofficial visit this past February to watch UT play South Carolina inside of Thompson-Boling Arena at Food City Center. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard also took official visits to Ole Miss, Xavier, TCU and Pittsburgh.
“Tennessee relies on defense,” Evans said. “Anybody can play offense, but the defensive part, they take pride in it. Being strong, physical, play hard, downhill, and I just feel in the fast pace, I fit right in.”
Tennessee basketball now has two commitments in the class of 2025, as Evans joins four-star center DeWayne Brown out of Hoover High School in Hoover, Ala. UT signed one high school prospect last recruiting cycle in four-star guard Bishop Boswell out of Myers Park in Charlotte, N.C.
Evans will now focus on recruiting for Tennessee with the decision-making process behind him and UT in the mix for multiple elite prospects. He thinks he’ll do a better than Clark, too.
“You can’t do anything by yourself,” Evans said. “Whoever Coach Rod puts me on, I’m on it. I’m a better recruiter than Coach Rod. I’m in it. I mean Coach Rod is young, but I feel like I’m just in it right now. So I just know what people want to hear. I’m the best recruiter the nation.”
