UW hauls in Evans
January 27, 2009 | Football
Leading up to Signing Day on Feb. 4, UWBadgers.com will take a look back at the recruiting and signing of some of the best players in recent Badger football history. Today we look at Lee Evans, who signed with UW in the winter of 1999.
Coming from the same high school as Badger wide receiver Chris Chambers, Evans was another talent recruited heavily by wide receivers coach Henry Mason. Though Bedford High School in Ohio didn't throw the ball much, both Chambers and Evans were clearly top prospects at the receiver position. Evans caught only 20 passes as a senior but averaged 25.6 yards per catch and hauled in eight touchdowns. He was ranked as one of the top 50 players in the Midwest.
Henry Mason, UW's wide receivers coach at the time, was handling Evans' recruiting and saw something special.
"The thing that sold me was when I went and watched him at a track meet," Mason said. "He was a hurdler. I think it was the all-city meet and Lee was going against a guy that was supposed to win it. And I just loved the way he competed and he ended up winning the race. I was pretty much sold on him at that point."
From the Badgers' standpoint, they had two advantages, Mason and Chambers.
'Henry did a great job of cultivating a relationship with him and his high school coach,' former UW head coach Barry Alvarez said. 'Chris Chambers was a big part of that, having come from the same high school. I think Lee was being recruited by Notre Dame and some other schools but I think Henry's relationship with the high school coach and Lee's friendship and trust in Chris really had a bearing. '
Chambers was two years ahead of Evans and had already established himself as one of the top receivers in the Big Ten by the time Evans committed to UW. In his sophomore season, Chambers had 28 catches for 563 yards and seven touchdowns.
"I think the most important thing, because Chris was here at the time, it made our pitch believable to Lee," former UW wide receivers coach Henry Mason said. "He knew what he was going to get. As a recruit, that's probably the thing you wonder about most, what you hear and what reality is. I think he had a comfort zone in that he knew what we were telling him had the potential to happen for him."
Though his friendship with Chambers helped, as did Coach Mason's inroads in the Cleveland area, what may have sealed the deal was a trip to a bowling alley.
'On my home visit with Lee, I can remember going over to a bowling alley because his parents were in a bowling league,' Alvarez said. 'That was my first chance to spend some time with his parents, who were characters. They were a lot of fun.'
Mason was at Evans' home when he committed to UW.
"The night that he committed it was just he and I at his home in Bedford," Mason said. "We had some good discussions. It was really a chance for he and I just to sit down and talk and not have any outside influences. He had finished up the visits that had been important to him. He had been to Boston College, he had been to Notre Dame, it was between those two and us and he decided to pull the trigger. Obviously we were happy about that."
After Evans made his pledge to UW, he wasted little time in making an impact. He was one of just two true freshmen to see action in the 1999 Rose Bowl season. As a sophomore, he and Chambers combined to form one of the most dangerous combos in Badger history as they paired up for 85 catches, 1,447 yards and nine TDs.
With Chambers off to the NFL the following season, Evans produced id=4011"> --> one of the best seasons in Big Ten history . He set a conference record 1,545 receiving yards, averaging 128.8 yards per game. His 75 catches set a school record (later tied by Travis Beckum in 2007) and he was one of three finalists for the Biletnikoff Award. That season, he also joined his high school teammate Chambers as one of three Badgers to go over the 2,000-yard plateau in career receiving (Al Toon was the other).
Unfortunately Evans was forced to sit out the 2002 season after sustaining a knee injury in the spring game. In his final season, though, the senior id=1013"> --> came back with a vengeance . Evans started all 13 games and made 64 catches for 1,213 yards (both second-most in school history behind his own totals of 75 catches and 1,545 yards in 2001) and a school-record 13 TDs. His Big Ten-leading 93.3 yards-per-game average was tied for 14th nationally.
At the conclusion of his UW career, Evans had not only surpassed Chambers and all other Badger receivers on UW's career receiving lists but he ranked second in the Big Ten in career receiving yards (he now stands at fifth). Evans went on to become the 13th overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft. He has recorded two 1,000-yard receiving seasons in his first five years and 4,744 yards and 32 TDs in his career ( id=EVA454901"> --> full NFL bio ). Not to mention the possible play of the year on the NFL last season (below).
