DDN
6/14
Evege to play football at Ohio State
By
Mark Gokavi | Tuesday, June 13, 2006, 10:14 PM
Donnie Evege had a celebratory dinner late Tuesday night. After all, accepting a scholarship to play football at Ohio State is a big moment.
The Wayne senior-to-be described the scene in OSU coach’s Jim Tressel’s office earlier Tuesday. “He was excited for me,” Evege said. “He shook my hand, gave me a hug and said, ‘I know you thought long and hard about it. He said just to keep working hard. I’m just happy the process is over. It feels great to be committed to the Buckeyes.”
Evege, 5-foot-11 and 192 pounds, is a fast (4.31 40-yard dash) guy who plays running back, defensive back and return man. Partly because of that versatility, he hasn’t racked up any major statistics at any spot. Consequently, Evege wasn’t on the GWOC East’s first or second team last fall.
But that could change this year. Evege hopes to see more time at running back even though he’ll probably play DB in college.
Wayne football coach Jay Minton, who has sent a few players to Columbus, said: “When Ohio State offers an Ohio kid, it’s hard to beat.”
Evege said that’s true, but not just for an Ohio kid. He said he did like Miami (Ohio), West Virginia, Purdue, Indiana, Washington, Kent State and Marshall, but … “Most everybody is an Ohio State fan and it’s close to home — just an hour away,” he said. “But it’s one of the biggest — if not the biggest — football schools around.”
Tressel briefly talked to Evege during a track meet in Huber Heights this spring when the coach watched Piqua’s Brandon Saine run. Now, the two versatile speedsters will be future teammates.
“We all know Brandon’s an incredible athlete,” Evege said. “I know him personally and we’re pretty good friends. I have a lot of respect for him.”
Evege is a good student (he said his GPA is about 3.6 and his ACT score was 21) who made a tough decision to not run track. Instead, he wanted to lift weights to get stronger. He said he’s OK with that decision.
Evege made sure to credit his recruiting success to another factor. “Keep God first,” he said. “Everything else will work out.”