After spending a year at the JUCO level, Tanner McEvoy is headed back to the FBS ranks to play for a school well-versed in the ways of the transfer quarterback.
In a move that’s been expected, McEvoy confirmed to 247Sports.com that he has verbally committed to play for Wisconsin. The quarterback stated that his relationship with new head coach Gary Andersen and his staff, as well as the school itself, played a significant role in his decision.
“It just seemed like a great opportunity, great school, great program, and I’m just looking to come in and compete and see how it goes,” McEvoy told the recruiting website. “The school itself surprised me. I didn’t know how big the campus was and how big Madison was. There was just a lot of things. It all clicked and it seems like it’s going to be the best move”
McEvoy, the top-rated dual-threat JUCO quarterback in the country, opted for UW over, among others, Florida, Oregon and West Virginia.
In early August of last year, South Carolina announced that McEvoy had decided to transfer from the Gamecocks. The announcement came a week or so after the player was arrested on alcohol-related charges.
McEvoy spent the 2012 season at Arizona Western College.
As McEvoy will be eligible to play in 2013, he will compete with Joel Stave, Curt Phillips and Danny O’Brien for the starting job. After transferring from Maryland, O’Brien started the first three games of the 2012 season before giving way to Stave, who held the job until suffering a shoulder injury in late October. Phillips, who was awarded a sixth season of eligibility last month, started the final five games of the season.
Thus far, McEvoy is the Badgers’ only quarterback verbal in their 2013 recruiting class.
(Photo credit: Bergen Catholic High School)