TCU landed its highest-rated football recruit in history Monday.
Five-star Galena Park North Shore running back Zach Evans "is in class this morning," TCU officials confirmed, and will be eligible to play for the Horned Frogs this upcoming season.
Evans tweeted about his decision on Monday, posting purple heart and frog emojis.
Evans is ranked as the No. 16 overall prospect in the 2020 class, according to 247Sports, and was regarded as the top overall player in the country last February.
Evans will compete for a starting job next season along with returning running backs Darwin Barlow and Daimarqua Foster. TCU's top two running backs last season were seniors Darius Anderson and Sewo Olonilua.
"Zach is one of those kids who can walk in and be an immediate contributor as true freshman, if not the starter," said Jeremy Clark, recruiting expert and Horned Frog Blitz publisher. "He's got the perfect blend of speed and power. He's one of those running back prospects who really comes around every 10 years.
"People have compared him to Adrian Peterson as far as where he's at coming out of high school. I would not be surprised if he's in the starting lineup. That's what kind of player he is. Today should be a great day for TCU fans."
Evans had an interesting recruiting process that ultimately landed him in Fort Worth. He made headlines when he was sent home from last year's Class 6A Division I state championship game for violating team rules. North Shore still won the championship, knocking off Duncanville, 31-17.
Evans then signed with Georgia during the early period, but eventually got out of his national letter of intent.
He had interest in other schools, including Tennessee, Ole Miss and Texas A&M. Eventually, though, he opted for TCU and a program that is looking to rebound from a couple of down seasons.
TCU now has the No. 23-ranked recruiting class in the country, and No. 3 in the Big 12, according to 247Sports.
From a big-picture standpoint, this could have a lasting impact on the program as it had never landed a five-star prospect before. Quarterback Justin Rogers was ultimately rated as a four-star prospect coming out of high school.
"This is huge for the program because they've never landed a five-star or a kid of this caliber," Clark said. "This kind of stuff doesn't happen at TCU, so I think it'll open doors for other five-star players to go to TCU. They're in the battle for a lot of highly-ranked kids and this should open some eyes that TCU is a place they can go to."
