Western Kentucky transfer Evan Wibberley won the John Schlarman Offensive Lineman of the Year award in northern Kentucky during his high school career. (UK Athletics Photo)
Even though he grew up in northern Kentucky, Evan Wibberley was not a Kentucky fan. Instead, he grew up a Cincinnati fan and went to Western Kentucky to play his college football before transferring to Kentucky in January.
However, the offensive lineman already knew plenty about the history of the Big Blue Wall created by the late John Schlarman because he had a high school friend who was Schlarman’s cousin.
“Coming up through high school I even won the John Schlarman Offensive Lineman of the Year award in northern Kentucky,” Wibberley said. “I have kind of always known who Mr. Schlarman was and I’ve had great respect for his family.
“I know about the culture here and that at one point the Big Blue Wall was the team’s identity. I think we can do that again and just try to appreciate his legacy and try to fulfill the things he would want now.”
Wibberley, who started 15 games at center at Western Kentucky, did not ask to wear Schlarman’s No. 65 at Kentucky because he wanted to stay with No. 58.
“We had one of our assistant coaches at Dixie Heights who had his son pass away while he was away at college. Every single year they would decide on one person to wear this number. My freshman year, I ended up being chosen because he (the assistant coach) told me that he thought that I had the most resemblance to his son,” Wibberley said.
“He was like, ‘You’re a hard worker.’ Those were some of the greatest words that a father could say about his past son. Since then, 58 has been my number. All four years in high school and my past three seasons at Western, and I’m excited to continue the legacy by wearing No. 58 here.”
Wibberley, a three-star prospect, did not have a Power Four scholarship offer coming out of high school. He redshirted his first season at Western Kentucky in 2022, played in 11 games in 2023 and then started all 14 games at center last year as a sophomore.
Wibberley and Western Kentucky were preparing for the Boca Raton Bowl when he got the call from UK offering him a scholarship. Wibberley talked with Western coach Tyson Helton about what he should do. Helton told him he should take the offer.
“I have nothing but respect and love for coach Helton. He did wondrous things for me. He’s a great man, great head coach. After I heard what he had to say, I realized coming to Kentucky was an incredible opportunity,” the UK offensive lineman said.
Wibberley felt he “dominated” opponents at times in high school but believed it was “part of God’s plan” for him to start his collegiate career at Western Kentucky.
“I firmly believe that good things come to those who wait and I knew that I would be here someday. Even if it wasn’t out of high school, I knew I would be here someday because I believe in my ability and the hard work that I can put in to be able to get to wherever I want,” Wibberley, who was injured most of spring practice, said.
Still, making the move to UK and competing in the SEC was a risk. Wibberley was happy at Western Kentucky and appreciated having his college education paid for. He had an apartment close to campus.
“This past I started trying to get better every week. We played against a great defensive line in Alabama. We went to the conference championship, and I felt like every single week I was able to build on what I did previously,” Wibberley said. “I felt like it was a scary jump (to UK), but I was confident because I played against the best D-line at Alabama. I had a good performance against Boston College. I was able to help anchor our offensive line and lead us to the conference championship and a bowl game.
“I loved my years at Western but it was time to move on. I’m grateful for the time I had there, but I’m also excited to be here at UK and this was the right decision for me.”
He knows his father, Matt who passed away a few years ago, would be proud of him and is still helping guide his career.
“When times are tough, I just feel like I’m having a conversation with him. I can talk to him at any time, and I know that he’s with me, and he’s brought me through a lot of troubles in the past,” Wibberley said. “He’s gotten me through a lot of hard stuff. He was a basketball player, but he was glad at least that I was able to do something athletically.
“He was a big fan. He might not have played football growing up, but once he found out that I had a love for football, he did all he could to help me. He started being my coach. He started learning things about offensive line play. He started doing all this stuff so that he could understand what it was that I was so emotional about football.
“He might not have played football growing up, but he was always there for me. He came to all my games and he would tell me not to forget what brought me here and that was hard work. Just because you get to a place through hard work doesn’t mean that once you get there that you stop working. You have to consistently do what is hard to do. My dad would say, ‘Let’s just trust God and keep on grinding,’ and that’s what I am going to do.”
One Response
Wibberly will be a great rotational lineman this year. I see him taking over the center position next year. He should get plenty of playing time this year as well. I’m glad we finally have depth on the line. Something we havent had in 3 years. It should be a battle in practice for the starting spot between him and Burton. Burton has the upper hand because of all the experience he has playing in the sec. With Farmer Pete Burton Wollshlager and Braun we have the best offensive line we’ve had in a while then we actually have great subs this year to keep all the lineman fresh.