Rashaan Evans made waves last week when he turned down his hometown Auburn Tigers and signed a national letter of intent with the rival Alabama Crimson Tide.
Since finalizing that decision, the star linebacker for Auburn High says he's felt an increasing amount of backlash from Tigers fans.
"It's getting worse," Evans told TideSports.com. "Someone actually put out an article about my family's business telling all Auburn fans not to go there. We are going to eventually start losing money. People are telling restaurants in the town not to serve us.
"It's hard for me to go out and chill with my friends like I have always done because people keep coming up to me telling me I made a bad decision. It's grown men. They are asking me why I did this to them. I told them I had to do what is best for me."
Evans is the No. 52 overall recruit in the ESPN 300 and the No. 2 outside linebacker. He was considering Alabama, Auburn and UCLA, and the SEC rivals were in such hot pursuit of the 6-foot-3, 217-pounder that they each sent representatives to his grandfather's birthday party.
But Evans ultimately chose the Crimson Tide, saying after signing his letter of intent, "Alabama was the best place for me."
Not everyone, though, agrees.
"I knew people would be mad and say stuff," Evans told TideSports.com. "I didn't think it would be like this. It wasn't a complete shock to me, but I guess that's just how fans are.
"It's just crazy right now. What's getting crazy is people are going to the board at my school trying to get me in trouble. They are telling my teachers I am a bad kid and all this stuff. It's just bad right now."
Evans said social media hasn't made it any easier.
"People on Instagram are telling me how they hope I tear my ACL in Game 1, [that] they will laugh when I do," he told the website. "They are saying my family is horrible and how they didn't raise me right. It's just crazy."
Evans took to Twitter himself this week to vent his frustrations.
All I did was commit to a university to get my education and pursue my dreams but a whole city gone try and treat me like I'm satan #Really
- Rashaan Evans (@616evans4) February 11, 2014
Evans is part of the Crimson Tide's top-ranked recruiting class, one that includes five of the top 15 players in the ESPN 300. In Tuscaloosa, he will reunite with Reuben Foster, a former Auburn High star who decommitted from the Tigers and chose Alabama last year.
Evans said last week that his friendship with Foster impacted his decision.
"The support from Alabama fans has been by far the greatest," Evans told TideSports.com. "They have made me feel a lot better about my decision. They are doing nothing but showing me love. They make me see I have people who are always going to have my back."