"Tennessee is getting a straight dawg next year": Nelson Neumann raves about OTE compatriot Amari Evans 

Amari Evans, the Tennessee signee and No. 83 recruit in the Class of 2025, has impressed basketball star and public figure Nelson Neumann with his performances. Neuman spoke to 'Sports Illustrated' about the Overtime Elite shooting guard, calling him a leader.

The Instagram page of Overtime Elite posted a carousel of images featuring Evans and Neumann on Tuesday:

"Tennessee is getting a straight dawg next year," said Neumann. "Amari is always going to give 150% effort no matter what."

"Amari is a leader. He is always uplifting his teammates even if you mess."

Amari Evans has always been full of confidence and he displayed that before OTE's match against Eli Ellis' YNG Dreamerz last month:

“Me and Meleek together, we’ve bested a lot of people, like everybody says who can't be beat, so I feel like me and him together, I feel like we’re going to click; we’re going to figure it out,” Evans said.

“I definitely feel like if anybody's going to beat them, it's going to be us for sure,” he said.

Eli Ellis' double double with 36 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds were not enough as Evans' words came true. The City Reapers defeated the No. 1 team YNG Dreamerz in a tight 85-81 contest with Amari Evans scoring 19 points, dishing out five assists, grabbing five rebounds and stealing the ball once.

Ranked at the 22nd spot in the shooting guard position and 10th in Georiga, Evans has played 11 games this season and is averaging 4.4 ppg, 2.2 apg, 5.9 rpg, 1.5 spg and 0.5 bpg.

ESPN's Basketball recruiting director also commended the 6-foot-5 guard's ability:

"He (Evans) is a combination of a scoring, cutting and transition finisher as an offensive player. His next step is to become a more dependable jump-shooter. He is a better defender than people know and that will only improve under the tutelage of one of the country's best coaches in Rick Barnes."

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Why did Amari Evans choose Tennessee?

With offers from plenty of programs across the nation, Amari Evans took official visits to Pittsburgh, Xavier and Tennessee. He then signed for the Vols on Nov. 11 and talked about his decision with On3, commending coach Barnes:

“Coach Rick Barnes is a hard-nosed coach,” Amari Evans told On3’s Joe Tipton. “He’s one of the few Hall of Fame coaches left. There’s not very many of them. That stood out. He’s just a winning guy with a great personality.”

Amari Evans' signing marked the Volunteers' second commitment from the 2025 Class. They secured the signing of four-star center Dewayne Brown on Apr. 20.