Tulsa CB transfer Akayleb Evans commits to Missouri

Despite receiving a visit from former Tulsa Golden Hurricane cornerback Akayleb Evans last week and appearing among his top five schools, the Texas Longhorns missed out on the graduate transfer when he committed to the Missouri Tigers on Friday evening.

Evans chose Missouri over his other four finalists — Jackson State, Notre Dame, Texas, and Texas Tech. In addition to visiting the Forty Acres, the 6’2, 188-pounder also visited Columbia and Fort Wayne in recent days.

Earlier in the year, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz made a decision that ultimately influenced the decision by Evans when he hired Tulsa defensive backs coach Aaron Fletcher for the same role with the Tigers.

A consensus two-star prospect in the 2017 recruiting class out of McKinney, Evans did hold Power Five offers from Kansas and Iowa State when he signed with Tulsa. In four years with the Golden Hurricane, Evans started 23 games and recorded 82 tackles and 11 pass breakups, but does not have an interception in his career. In 2020, Evans started in nine games and racked up 29 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, three pass breakups, and a forced fumble.