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Duke freshman star Isaiah Evans has formally withdrawn from the 2025 NBA Draft and will not attend the upcoming NBA Draft Combine, the NBA announced Sunday afternoon. This could allow Evans to return to the Blue Devils for his sophomore season, a decision he announced last month.
Evans confirmed his intentions to return to Duke and play the 2025-2026 season in Durham in a social media reply to the Blue Devils’ account on April 22.
“yo Slim you back? @IsaiahEvans26” Duke asked. Evans replied simply: “yea.”
yea
— Isaiah Evans (@IsaiahEvans26) April 22, 2025
As a freshman, Evans averaged 6.8 points on 43.2-percent shooting in 36 games during the 2024-25 season, but did most of it off the bench with just three starts. With the departures of expected No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg and fellow freshman Kon Knueppel, Evans can expect to see an increased role next season.
Evans played high school basketball at Huntersville (NC) North Mecklenburg, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 15 overall recruit in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.
“Isaiah Evans is a lengthy prospect, all arms and legs right now,” On3’s Jamie Shaw said in a scouting report. “He moves fluidly and is comfortable handling the ball in the open floor. He is good in the passing lanes; his length and anticipation help deflections. Evans is very thin and will need to continue adding weight. The jump shot comes across his face and is inconsistent. Good off-ball cutter seems to have a high basketball IQ. Inconsistent in creating in the half-court, re-tooling the jump shot will also help here. He has a lot of tools and a natural basketball IQ; he also competes and does a lot of the little things.”
Duke is fresh off a Final Four appearance and not too far away from playing in the national championship game. Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer is undoubtedly one of the best young coaches in all of college basketball. Especially when it comes to building rosters. The Blue Devils recruit at as high of a level as anybody out there.
Evans was a massive win for Duke back in high school. Retaining him for another season is just as massive. There is a lot of untapped potential there for Evans and Scheyer will be looking to untap some of it moving forward.
Mix in another incredible talent pool coming to Durham and Duke will be one of the top-ranked preseason teams. On3’s James Fletcher currently has them at No. 3 overall in his way-too-early rankings, with nobody in the ACC higher.
— On3’s Griffin McVeigh contributed to this report.
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