TEMPE, Ariz. — It wasn’t hard for Tevin White to see himself at Arizona State. He saw it on the screen during his official visit this month.
Running backs coach Shaun Aguano showed White video clips from his high school contests at North Stafford High in Virginia. Then he showed the four-star prospect how Arizona State uses running backs Rachaad White and Chip Trayanum. The similarities were obvious.
“It was like, ‘Hey, we’re recruiting you for a reason,’” said John Harris, an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at North Stafford who also attended White’s official visit.
On Thursday, White committed to the Sun Devils, announcing his decision on social media on his mother’s birthday. This is a big get for coach Herm Edwards. According to the 247Sports Composite, White is the nation’s No. 192 overall prospect and the No. 20 running back.
It’s also Arizona State’s first public commitment since the NCAA opened an investigation into allegations of recruiting violations. Last week, The Athletic first reported the Sun Devils had been accused of hosting recruits during the 15-month non-contact period brought on by the pandemic. Since then, allegations of other potential violations have surfaced.
Arizona State has confirmed the existence of the NCAA investigation but has said little else publicly. A Yahoo! Sports report on Thursday included details of a package sent to Arizona State’s compliance office that names 10 “individual staff members to investigate” and lists 13 “illegal recruiting prospects.” A timetable for the probe is not known, but Harris said it wasn’t a factor in White’s commitment.
“To be honest, everybody is probably under investigation for something,” Harris said. “All you can really do is just take people for their word. You can’t just react to every little thing that happens. … As far as our relationship with them, it doesn’t change anything.”
White is the fifth public commitment in Arizona State’s 2022 class. He is the fourth four-star prospect, joining California athlete Larry Turner-Gooden and Florida defensive backs Alfonzo Allen and Jaylin Marshall. (Although they remain committed to the Sun Devils, Turner-Gooden recently visited Texas and Marshall recently visited Georgia Tech.)
White visited only Arizona State. Harris said the running back had a strong relationship with Aguano and “hit it off” with Trayanum during his visit. White told 247Sports that the entire staff treated him like family.
He fits the Arizona State running back mold perfectly. At 6-1, 206 pounds, White is built like a power back, but it’s his versatility that sets him apart. As a freshman at North Stafford, he established himself as a receiver, lining up in the slot and on the outside. As he got older, this experience made him more valuable to the offense.
“Tevin was able to play every single position because he knew where everybody’s supposed to be and he’s fast and he’s big and he’s strong, so of course he was going to get the ball,” Harris said. “… The game has slowed down for him so much that it’s like having a coach on the field. Even defensively, we put him at field corner and dared people to throw at him.”
White was on the program’s leadership council as a sophomore. He was a team captain as a junior. He has a 3.8 GPA (with plans to graduate high school early) and wants to pursue a career that deals with numbers.
Unsurprisingly, White attracted a lot of recruiting attention. He had reported scholarship offers from schools such as Georgia, South Carolina, Penn State and Duke, but in the end, Arizona State stood out. That Tempe was more than 2,000 miles from home was not a significant factor in his college decision.
“I just think times are changing,” Harris said. “He was planning to get out to Arizona State even before the pandemic. I just think that recruiting isn’t as regionalized as it’s been in the past and kids are willing to move further away. … For him, it was just all about finding the best fit.”
(Photo: Kevin Abele / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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