PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers lost out on one of their top targets in the Class of 2025, as he chose to commit to Tennessee.
Amari Evans, a four-star wing, picked the Volunteers over the Panthers and Xavier Musketeers, announcing his decision on the OTE YouTube channel.
Evans started out his high school career in Pittsburgh at Bishop Canevin, but would transfer to Our Savior Lutheran in Bronx, N.Y. He is now with Overtime Elite and playing in Atlanta, Ga.
He took an official visit to Pitt June 23-25 and an unofficial visit during Christmas break, building his relationship with the coaching staff and receiving the offer. He also took official visits to Tennessee, Aug. 30-31, and Xavier from Sept. 14-15.
Writers from 247Sports, Rivals and On3 all predicted Evans would choose Tennessee, making this decision unsurprising.
Colby Giacubeno of InsideMDSports at 247Sports put out a “Crystal Ball” for Evans to commit to Tennessee with “Medium” (6) confidence. Travis Barnham, also of the same publication, put out a “Crystal Ball” with High (7) confidence.
Houston Wilson and Richard O’Leary of Rivals both forecasted Evans to commit to Tennessee. Jamie Shaw and Joe Tipton of On3 also both placed RPMs (Recruiting Prediction Machine) for Evans to chose Tennessee.
247Sports ranks Evans as a four-star, No. 80 in the nation and the No. 18 small forward in the Class of 2025. On3 rates him as a three-star, No. 127 in the country and the No. 31 shooting guard, while ESPN ranks him a four-star, No. 77 in the U.S., No. 25 in the Southeast Region and No. 20 small forward.
Evans is also teammates with Class of 2025 five-star guard and Pitt target Meleek Thomas on the New Heights Lightning NYC on the Nike Circuit and on the City Reapers with Overtime Elite.
He previously announced a top 10 schools list back on July 27, which had Big East schools in Georgetown and Villanova, SEC teams in Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Texas A&M, plus Illinois and TCU.
He also held offers from Big East schools Marquette and Providence, plus Bryant, Cal Poly, Fordham, Georgia, Manhattan, Old Dominion, Penn State, Pepperdine, Robert Morris and Sam Houston State.
Evans is one of a few players in the Class of 2025 that turned down Pitt in the past two months.
Four-star guard Derek Dixon had Pitt in his top six, but chose ACC foe, North Carolina back on Sept. 27. Four-star wing Davion Hannah chose not to go on on his official visit to Pitt on Oct. 19, cutting them from his final list, and four-star forward Niko Bundalo didn’t include Pitt in his last four schools.
Four-star wing Cornelius “C.J.” Ingram II out of Hawthorne High School in Hawthorne, Fla. had Pitt in his top 10 schools, but decided to commit to Florida, where his dad played football.
Pitt has one more upcoming announcement in four-star guard Isaiah Denis, who has Pitt in hisfinal six schools. He willmake his commitment decision a day later on Nov. 2.
Thomas also has Pitt in his final seven schools, but doesn’t have a commitment date yet.
Pitt has one commitment in the Class of 2025 in four-star guard Omari Witherspoon who plays for St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C.
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