The odds seemed to be stacked against Evan Smith when he showed up at Northwestern to workout as a cornerback for coaches on Wednesday.

The athlete from Birmingham, Ala., had eight scholarship offers as a wide receiver, and two more, from Army and Navy, as a quarterback, the position he plays for Oak Mountain High School. But he had never played a single rep as a cornerback in is career as a football player.

So when Wildcat coaches offered him a scholarship based on his performance, he described his reaction one way: "I was shell-shocked," he said.