Drew Evers didn’t know what was coming when he stepped into Ryan Day’s office on Wednesday.
The four-star offensive lineman from Flower Mound, Texas, was only expecting to meet with the Ohio State coach. The rising junior from Flower Mound High School was thrilled when Day told him Ohio State was ready to extend him a scholarship offer.
“It was a surreal moment,” Evers said. “I was in Coach Day's office, and then he kind of just like dropped the bomb on me. I wasn't really expecting it at all. I was expecting to just go in there and meet Coach Day for the first time, but whenever he said Coach Frye thinks highly of you and we're gonna offer you right here, I was kind of like taken aback, because that doesn't happen every day. You don't get offered by Ohio State, and you don't get offered by Ryan Day. So it was an awesome moment for me and my family.”
Excited to be offered by THEE Ohio State @OhioStateFB #GoBucks
— Drew Evers (@TheDrewEvers) June 12, 2024
Thx to @ryandaytime @CoachJFrye @CoachSollenne for the opportunity @bbasil01 @KaneHardin_ @CoachxSalinas @CoachMacsOLine @BlueChipOL
: https://t.co/ggjIPpDWgC pic.twitter.com/CLAi8Vc01I
Evers received the offer from Ohio State one day before participating in OSU’s fourth high school football camp of the month on Thursday. There, Evers went through a full workout with Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye and graduate assistant Mike Sollenne and came away impressed with how OSU operates its camps.
“It was actually probably one of the smoother camps that I've done in my career,” Evers said. “It was really well-organized. You got hands-on coaching by Coach Frye and Coach Mike and other of the assistants. It was awesome.”
Evers said he appreciated Frye’s attention to detail as well as the way he coaches.
“He's really big on the small things, but he's also gonna like, he's gonna coach you hard, but he's also gonna love you hard as well,” Evers said. “He'll get on to you if you do something wrong, he'll tell you, he's like, ‘Yo, if it looked bad, it looked bad.’ But he'll also, he'll love you up, he'll hug you, he'll do all that stuff. But he's also not just gonna hold your hand, you know what I'm saying? But yeah, I love Coach Frye.”
While Evers is listed as an interior offensive lineman by 247Sports, where he is ranked as the No. 180 overall prospect in the 2026 class, he plays left tackle at Flower Mound and believes in his ability to play all five spots along the offensive line. While he’s on the shorter side for an offensive tackle at 6-foot-4, he has an 81-inch wingspan which helps make up for that. Evers also offers plenty of athleticism for his position, as he was clocked at a top speed of 20.3 miles per hour during testing at OSU.
Clocked 20.3 MPH while @OhioStateFB and got them #300lbsAthlete
— Drew Evers (@TheDrewEvers) June 14, 2024
Thinking about changing to TE @ryandaytime @CoachJFrye @CoachSollenne
https://t.co/ggjIPpEu6a pic.twitter.com/bs1rtKPd21
Coming from an offense that passed the ball on more than half of its plays last season, Evers considers pass protection to be the strength of his game. He says he’s working on improving his movement and blocking in space and feels he has turned that aspect of his game from a weakness into a strength.
As Evers goes through the process of visiting schools throughout the country, he says the biggest thing he’s looking to do is build connections with the coaches.
“I know one of the most important things is the relationships, and that's what I try to build with all these schools,” Evers said. “I don't really look for names, I wouldn't go to a school just off of their name, I would go there off the relationships that I've built with the coaches and the coaching staff and everything like that.”
Evers says he learned about the importance of building relationships in the recruiting process from his older brother, Nick Evers, who also went through the process of being recruited by many of the nation’s top programs as a four-star quarterback prospect in the 2022 class. Drew said his brother, who is now playing for his third school in three years after starting his career at Oklahoma before transferring to Wisconsin last year and transferring to UConn this offseason, has advised him to recognize the business-like nature of college football but also make sure he enjoys the process.
“It's a business out here, you have to keep your head on a swivel, and find out who you can trust is basically what he was trying to tell me,” Evers said. “And just have fun, because that's the biggest thing.”
Evers says he plans on making his college decision around this time next year, when prospects in his class will be going through the official visit process.
“I'm hoping to start to narrow down my list pretty soon. Obviously, it's inevitable. It's going to come. You're going to have to choose one school,” Evers said. “So I'm thinking about like this time next summer, I'm thinking about narrowing my list down, committing, because these spots aren't reserved for anybody. You got to go in there, you got to earn your spot, do all that stuff. So, yeah, this time next year, I'll be narrowing down my list and looking to commit somewhere.”
“It was a surreal moment.”– Drew Evers on receiving an Ohio State offer
Holding scholarship offers from more than 30 schools, Evers will have plenty of options to choose from when he makes his decision next summer. Alabama, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Stanford, TCU, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Utah are among the many notable programs that have offered Evers already.
That said, Ohio State will draw major consideration from Evers now that it’s thrown its hat in the ring.
“It's really high,” Evers said of his interest in Ohio State. “Even before my offer, it was extremely high. But now, me being on campus for the first time, talking to Coach Day, talking to Coach Frye, Coach Mike, you know, it's exceeded my expectations. And it's really, I can see why a bunch of people are like decommitting (from other schools) and committing here … I see why people are doing it, because it's an awesome spot.
“Columbus is an amazing city. It's like one of the biggest cities in the United States of America. Facilities, as you can see, are top-notch. It's just really well organized, really well-run by Coach Day and all the coaching staff.”
Evers says he plans to return to Ohio State for a game this fall, ideally for the Buckeyes’ rivalry game against Michigan in November.
“Yeah, I really want to see a game between Ohio State and the team up north,” Evers said. “I'm tired of just looking at it on TV. I really want to go see it in person, see what all the hype's about.”
