FWB's Evans commits to Northern Illinois

By ADAM PRUIETT

Northwest Florida Daily News
(850) 315-4421 | adamp@nwfdailynews.com

When Sean Evans traveled to the Midwest to visit Northern Illinois University, he envisioned a place surrounded by cornfields.

While that assumption turned out to be wrong, everything the Fort Walton Beach senior defensive back had heard about body-numbing temperatures, unholy winds, piles of snow and objects covered in ice couldn't have been more true as he experienced it first-hand.

But Evans also experienced a tour of Northern Illinois' engineering school by none other than the university's dean of engineering, an instant clicking with the host player who gave him the lowdown on the football team and a connection with the young coaching staff.

So despite the miserable weather, Evans was sold, and he's verbally committed to playing for the Huskies.

Evans, who will study to be a mechanical engineer, said the get-together with the dean of engineering "spoke volumes to me" and, of his time with his host and meeting his future teammates, he noted, "Really what sells you on what school you want to choose is players. That's who's going to be your brothers for the next four or five years."

And then there's his approval of the Huskies' coaches: "They're really young and energetic. They're easy to relate to, not like playing for a cranky old guy that needs his nap all the time."

On the field this season, Evans was as sharp as his sense of humor. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound All-Area defensive back had 32 tackles, including 25 solo stops, along with two pass breakups, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one blocked punt heading into the Class 4A regional finals.

"He's got a big future up there," Fort Walton Beach coach Mike Owens said. "He's a very talented athlete. More than anything, he's a real solid individual - a lot of plusses for him."