Pen Argyl’s Dylan Evans had visions of playing football next fall at Pitt, West Virginia or Rutgers.
Playing at the Division I level was his dream.
But Pitt’s coaching staff changed twice, West Virginia had a coaching turnover and Rutgers went in another direction with its recruiting.
Suddenly, Evans’ sure-fire dream became a nightmare.
“The coaching staffs fell apart so I was lost,” he said. “I had no idea where I was going to go.”
As the 2011 Colonial League’s leading rusher and scorer began exploring options at the Division II level (ESU, Bloomsburg and Millersville among them), a friendship and a few phone calls rescued the situation.
Pen Argyl assistant coach Roy Cortez is friends with Wilson AD Rosie Amato, whose brother, Chuck, is an assistant coach at the University of Akron.
One thing led to another… and Evans is headed to Akron in the fall.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen this story many times before — a Division I talent getting lost in the shuffle.
But Evans’ feel-good ending reminded me of a situation a couple of decades ago, one that ended really well.
A senior high school basketball player I covered at a school in the Wilkes-Barre area, one of the best high school basketball players from any area I’d seen to that point in my career, was not getting any major Division I looks.
He seemed destined to land at a mid-major at best.
Then came a phone call from former King’s College coach Ed Donahue to an old Wilkes-Barre friend, Pat Kennedy — who was the Florida State coach at the time.
A trip north to see Sura followed by film and a campus visit, and suddenly, Sura was headed to Florida State.
Sura started all four years and had a stellar career in the ACC, one of the country’s top conferences. He followed that up with more than a decade in the NBA in Cleveland and Houston.
There’s no telling what kind of impact Dylan Evans will have at Akron, which is coming off a 1-win season in 2011 and has a new coach in Terry Bowden.
But the most important thing is that he’ll get the chance to prove his worth.
“Within 10 or 12 days, this whole thing took off,” Evans said. “I’m fortunate.”
The 17-year-old Plainfield Township resident has nothing to apologize for. He earned his chance.
Evans will play outside linebacker at Akron, a position he kind of played at Pen Argyl.
“He just makes plays,” Pen Argyl coach Paul Reduzzi said. “On that side of the ball. He just reacts. We had him as a rolled-up safety. It was a great transition for him. He was able to play within five yards of the line of scrimmage and had an impact on the game.”
Evans, who played at 190 pounds as a senior at Pen Argyl, likely will be tipping the scales at 215 or 220 pounds as an Akron freshman.
“It’s a relief to finally do the hitting rather than always getting hit,” he said.
“He’s smart, he understands the game,” Reduzzi added. “Thinking about him not having to carry the ball 25 times a game and focusing on [defense] is going to be fun to watch.”
Something that was fun to see was Evans as Pen Argyl’s punter and kicker in 2011.
His first attempt at kicking came back in elementary school. He lined up for an extra point and kicked it left-footed. Problem was, the holder was on the right side.
Evans got some punting tips from former Delaware Valley College punter Corey Heard, a Pen Argyl grad, but he still struggled with his kickoffs from time to time.
But the son of Jean and Darrin Evans took it all in stride.
“You have to keep it within 53 yards wide and I couldn’t seem to do that sometimes,” he said.
Evans said he planned to give baseball a try, in addition to football, if he landed on a Division II campus.
Now he said he’s going to put that sport on hold.
“I can play baseball as soon as I come out of college in the old-man leagues,” he said.
By that time, Evans will have fulfilled his dream of playing Division I football.