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Tiyon Evans sends message to Tennessee, Vols fans after entering NCAA Transfer Portal

275133747_4796292347117549_592518599057046758_nby:Jonathan Wagner•11/26/21•

Jonathan Wagner

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James Gilbert via Getty Images.

The Tennessee Volunteers lost a key offensive contributor on Friday morning when running back Tiyon Evans entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. Evans, Tennessee’s leading rusher, has shared a message for Tennessee and Vols fans following his decision.

“First of all I wanna thank the Lord above for blessing me with the ability to do what I love to do,” Evans said. “Secondly, to the Vol nation I thank each and every one of you for the undying support that you give. That itself will last with me forever. I wanna thank coach Heupel and his staff for giving me a chance here at UT to be a Vol when he got the position and throughout this journey I have made some friendships that will last a lifetime. To all my brothers, love.

“After praying to God and giving myself time to think on what’s best for me and my family, I’ve decided to enter the transfer portal and weigh my options.”

Evans leaves Tennessee despite leading the team in rushing

On the season, Evans has 525 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 81 carries. He leads Tennessee in rushing, and also has one touchdown reception. Evans was averaging 6.5 yards per carry. He has been dealing with an injury in recent weeks, and has just one carry in November. The former junior college running back has paced Tennessee’s backfield alongside Jabari Small.

Earlier in the season, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel had some high praise for Evans in Tennessee’s offense.

“Tiyon [Evans] continues to grow. He did some really good things for us, then he got nicked up and wasn’t able to go for a week,” Heupel said. “And I think he continues to grow, and his understanding — if you watch him at the running back position the other day, and he’s doing a great job of being on his track and pressing the line of scrimmage. He made some people miss, too, which is important. It’s going to be important in this game, too.”

Evans rushed for at least 119 yards three times in his career with the Vols. Tennessee is currently 6-5 on the season. The Volunteers wrap up the regular season at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday at home against Vanderbilt.