The Hawaii football team has not used a tight end in a game since 1998.
The Warriors made sure their first tight end recruit did not have to wait long to join the program.
A day after completing his Hawaii recruiting trip, California-raised Clark Evans was scheduled to be back in Honolulu on Monday afternoon. He begins classes at UH today.
“It’s been crazy,” said Evans, who earned an associate’s degree from Cerritos College, where he was a junior college All-America tight end.
Evans made an oral commitment to UH on Sunday morning during his 48-hour recruiting trip, then returned to his family home in Orange, Calif. The NCAA requires a prospect to return to the origination point of his recruiting trip, which was why Evans could not remain in Hawaii after making his commitment.
He repacked, had a few hours of sleep, and was back at the airport at 7 a.m. (Pacific time) on Monday. He said his scheduled 9 a.m. flight was delayed nearly 6 hours.
Evans said he wanted to hurry back to be “part of the program.”
“I had never been to Hawaii before until this past weekend,” Evans said. “I really fell in love with it while I was there. I love the atmosphere. I really like Coach (Norm) Chow.”
Evans said he relishes the opportunity to become the Warriors’ first tight end in 14 years.
“That’s pretty exciting,” Evans said. “It’s always nice to have a coach like Coach Chow, who has all of that history. I look forward to the opportunity to get on the field and show what I have.”
The original blueprint did not call for Evans to be a tight end. He was a standout high school quarterback who earned a scholarship with Colorado in 2009. He redshirted that year, and was told he would have a better opportunity to play if he moved to tight end.
After the 2010 spring semester, Evans decided to transfer.
“It was just a lot of things,” said Evans, who wanted to move back to California.
He played quarterback and tight end at Golden West College in 2010, and tight end at Cerritos in 2011. Last year, he caught 31 passes for 444 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns. He was named to the California Community College Football Association’s All-America first team. The California award is regarded as a national honor, meaning Evans is considered to be an All-American.
“To me, it’s more fun to be a tight end,” Evans said. “I get to hit people. I can’t do that as a quarterback.”
Evans is 6 feet 4, 240 pounds, and capable of running 40 yards in less than 4.8 seconds.
On Sunday, the Warriors also received oral commitments from Ronald Fields, a 6-2, 190-pound cornerback from College of San Mateo, and Gus Lavaka, a 6-4, 300-pound lineman from Kearns High School in Utah.
