Art Evans is ready to make people pay.

The athlete from Victory Christian Academy (formerly Evangelical

Christian) in Lakeland, Fla., committed to play football for Tennessee

on Monday.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Evans chose UT over Ohio State, Duke, Wake

Forest and West Virginia.

Two schools noticeably missing to Evans on his list of scholarship

offers are Florida and Alabama. Evans said playing at UT will give him

a chance to make the Vols' rivals sorry for passing on him.

"Anybody would be crazy to say they wouldn't want the offer from

those kinds of schools," he said. "I didn't get it so I can't cry about

it.

"I've got a great school in Tennessee. They're rivals with Alabama

and Florida. Now I've got to make them pay for not offering me."

Evans' head coach at Victory Christian, Dedrick Dodge, believes

Evans will do just that. Dodge said Evans, who plays wide receiver and

cornerback in high school, will be a perfect fit at cornerback in

college.

"He's just one of those special kids," Dodge said. "He's going to be

an impact player when he gets in there and once they see him. When they

see him on the field, they'll see he's a special player."

Evans said the Tennessee coaches told him he was the No. 1 player on

their board at defensive back. Evans said he saw that as a chance to

contribute right away.

"(Defensive backs) Coach Larry Slade said it's hard to find a

6-foot-1 corner," Evans said. "They always have problems with that.

They like big corners. He was telling me that's what they're looking

for."

Evans said he felt he could trust UT's coaches, something he

couldn't say for each of the other schools recruiting him.

"You have a lot of coaches telling you what you want to hear," he

said. "(Defensive tackles) Coach Dan Brooks and Coach Slade were just

telling me how they feel about me.

"They watched my film and they just gave me credit where it was due

and said I could just flat-out play. No one else told me that."

Evans said he paid close attention to former UT defensive back Jason

Allen, a first-round pick by the Miami Dolphins in this year's NFL

draft.

Evans said Allen's draft position made him feel better about UT's

ability to develop defensive backs.

"A lot of people kept telling me Tennessee is not that rich in

producing cornerbacks into the NFL," Evans said. "To see that guy work

so hard and make it, that's real good. That's a blessing."

Dodge played defensive back at Florida State 1985-90 before moving

on to an NFL career with Seattle, San Francisco, Denver and Seattle. He

won Super Bowl rings with the 49ers and Broncos.

Evans said he takes away as much as he can from the former NFL

player.

"That's like my second dad," Evans said. "He expects the best out of

me. It's a blessing to play for Coach Dodge.

"He knows what he's talking about because he's been at the uppermost

level. Not everybody plays for a coach with two Super Bowl rings."

Evans said he still knows he has something to prove. He said he

appreciates UT giving him the chance to do it.

"Everybody is blessed to have an offer from Tennessee," he said.

"They're one of if not the top football teams in college. Tennessee is

a name I've got to carry. I have to come with my A-game so people can

be like, 'Now I see why they offered.' "

© 2006, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.