The 10 seconds that ignited Ondre Evans' offers from Alabama football, Georgia, LSU

May 24 was a huge football recruiting day for Ondre Evans, but the CPA defensive back didn't spend it on a football field, wasn't around the Lions football team and wore no helmet or shoulder pads.

Evans was on the track at Dean Hayes Stadium on Middle Tennessee State's campus competing in the TSSAA Division II-AA state Track and Field Championships. His 10.55-second 100-meter final was good enough for state runner-up. The race was livestreamed, and among those watching that day were football coaches from LSU and Alabama.

More than a week after the race, Evans picked up offers from the two-time defending national champion Georgia and LSU. The next day he was in Tuscaloosa meeting with Tide coach Nick Saban. Alabama followed that with an offer Wednesday.

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"That 100 time I posted at state definitely had an affect," Evans said. "Alabama brought it up. LSU brought it up. I think they had a feeling at first that I was super fast, but when they saw that, it just sort of confirmed to them that I could move. Running that time really stood out."

The CPA defensive back is no unknown prospect. He already has more than 30 offers, including from Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Michigan, Ole Miss and NC State. But the past week has seen a major uptick in his recruitment with the additions of Alabama, Georgia and LSU.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound CPA standout is a four-star athlete in the Class of 2024 and is the 8th-ranked prospect in Tennessee and 30th nationally ranked defensive back, according to 247Sports Composite.

"It's been fun being offered by these big-time schools, but it comes from me working hard these last few months," Evans said Wednesday from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he finished a two-day camp at LSU.

Georgia didn't watch the state track meet that included Evans' participation in CPA's state-title winning 4x100-meter relay team, or his third-place finish in the 200 (21.85), but the Bulldogs were aware of his time. Nearly all of the schools that have offered Evans were aware of it.

Tennessee was among the first Power 5 schools to offer Evans in June 2021. The next day Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss offered. Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines stepped up in April of last year.

"It made me want to step it up a notch," Evans said after getting that Tennessee offer. "It made me work real hard, and to have Tennessee looking at you, that made me really happy."

As a junior last fall, Evans had 38 tackles, five pass break-ups and two interceptions on defense and caught 18 passes for 221 yards as a wide receiver. CPA finished 8-6 advancing to the DII-AA state championship game, losing to No. 1-ranked Lipscomb Academy.

During Evans' trip to Alabama's camp late last week, he felt he proved to the Crimson Tide coaches that he could play at the next level. A 20-minute conversation with Saban confirmed that.

"It was a good conversation," Evans said. "He was teaching me some stuff while I was there. He went over some stuff with me that he saw, but I showed them that I could go out and play man and the coverages they asked me to. He was impressed by that."

Reach sports writer George Robinson at georgerobinson@theleafchronicle.com and on Twitter @Cville_Sports.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Ondre Evans got offers from Alabama football, Georgia, LSU