Evan Kennedy vs. Carson. Brian Wilhite photo.

By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

MOUNT ULLA — It’s a Sunday night, but West Rowan senior Evan Kennedy isn’t watching football or basketball. Nor is he hanging out with his friends. He’s busy doing homework.

Homework?

“Pre-calculus,” Kennedy said. “Really can’t talk now, but you can call me Monday morning before school.”

Kennedy is a serious student-athlete with a 3.9 GPA, although UVA Wise head football coach Gary Bass wouldn’t have recruited him if he was just a nice guy with a solid GPA. Kennedy is more than a scholar. He is an outstanding athlete. He is quick, fast, strong and sure-handed. He packs a little over 200 pounds on a sturdy 5-foot-11 frame, and he trucked a lot of defensive backs.

“He set the standard for our program since he was a freshman,” West head coach Louis Kraft said. “He’s been consistently great for four years.”

Kennedy had an unusually versatile high school career for Kraft and the Falcons. He’s only the second player in Rowan County history — West’s Jalen Houston was the first — to surpass 2,000 receiving yards as well as 2,000 rushing yards.

There were games in which Kennedy was a running back and games in which he was a receiver. There were also games where he split time at both jobs. He might be more famous if he’d gotten 4,000 rushing yards or 4,000 receiving yards, but he enjoyed moving around. He enjoyed providing headaches for opposing defensive coordinators who had no idea on Thursday where Kennedy would be lining up on Friday.

There aren’t many guys who can say they had a 227-yard receiving game and a 243-yard rushing game in high school. Kennedy can.

Kennedy finished second in West history and fifth in county history with 138 career receptions. He also was fifth in county history in career receiving yards with 2,466. His 2,075 rushing yards put him in the top 60 in county history.

As a senior, he averaged 8 yards per carry and 20 yards per reception. Those numbers are special. He scored 23 touchdowns. He was Honorable Mention on the High School OT All-State team as an all-purpose back.

Kennedy wasn’t heavily recruited, but it’s not like he was ignored by college coaches. He had some options.

He made the four-hour trip to the high country in the southwestern corner of Virginia, and he liked what he saw when he got to meet the UVA Wise Cavaliers.

“The campus is really nice and the school is nice, but the decision to commit to UVA Wse basically came down to liking the football coaches and being comfortable with the coaching staff,” Kennedy said. “Coach Bass is a North Carolina guy. He has some ties to Rowan County.”

Bass does indeed. A generation ago, he played on the offensive line for Catawba College next to Joe Nixon, the former North Rowan, West Rowan and Mooresville head coach who is now the AD for Rowan County. Bass also coached with Brian Hinson at East Rowan High before switching to the college coaching ranks and leaving North Carolina. The 2024 season was Bass’ first as UVA Wise’s head coach. UVA Wise won four games, including a 31-28 thriller at home against South Atlantic Conference opponent Catawba. It is generally regarded as a program on the rise.

“There probably were more schools that were going to offer me, but it’s not like you can wait around in recruiting game now, and UVA Wise will be evaluating a new group of guys next week,” Kennedy said. I sat down with Coach Bass and with Coach Kraft and I believe the best option was to go ahead and commit. I looked over the UVA Wise roster and it’s smaller than most SAC rosters. I believe I’ll have a chance to play early.”

As far as whether he’ll be a running back or receiver for the Cavaliers, UVA Wise coaches told him to take his pick.

“They told me whichever position I want to try, to go for it,” Kennedy said. “They’ll move me if they need to move me.”

Kennedy suffered an ankle injury while he was starring in the first-round playoff win against Freedom, so he missed West Rowan’s lopsided loss to West Charlotte in the second round.

“At least we can always say we lost to the state champs,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy limped into the current basketball season, but quick, fast and strong carries over well from the gridiron to the hardwood, and he’s been on fire lately. He scored 21 points on Friday. He’s West’s leading scorer at 12.5 points per game.

“We were struggling to score before Christmas, but we’ve gotten a lot better since then,” Kennedy said. “I haven’t changed anything I’m doing. The ball is just going through the hoop a lot more now.”

Kennedy says his hidden talent is golf.

As far as academics, Kennedy plans to major in exercise science at UVA Wise.

“I think Evan will make his mark on another program,” Kraft said. “He should play early for UVA Wise based on his knowledge of the game and on how quick of a learner he is. I’m excited to watch him compete, excited to watch him grow.”