Duke's Isaiah Evans Reacts to Nikolas Khamenia's Transfer Portal Announcement

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Duke's Isaiah Evans Reacts to Nikolas Khamenia's Transfer Portal Announcement

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Kevin Matthew Borba | Last updated Apr 18, 2026 2:27 PM ET

Following a season that saw them lose in the Elite Eight in heartbreaking fashion, Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils are headed back to the drawing board this offseason.

Aside from the fact that they are expected to see players like Cam Boozer and Isaiah Evans test the NBA Draft waters, they have also seen a couple of players decide to continue their careers elsewhere. As always, they have a couple of five-stars set to join the program in their 2027 class, but they did lose one to the portal from last year's class in
Nikolas Khamenia.

Ranked as the No. 15 overall player, No. 3 small forward and No. 4 player in the state of California by 247Sports, Khamenia played in 38 games this season, starting five. The Los Angeles product averaged 5.7 points, 1.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 44.4% from the field and 34% from three.

While he clearly felt a fresh start was in his best interest, he still ended up landing at one of the premier programs in college basketball. Khamenia announced his commitment to play for Dan Hurley and the UConn Huskies on Saturday.

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While this decision certainly will be unpopular in Durham, considering the Huskies were the team that ended Duke's season, Khamenia did get some support from a now-former teammate of his, Evans, and Dame Sarr.

Evans simply commented "❤️," while Sarr wrote "My brother."

Duke Blue Devils guard Cayden Boozer (2), guard Nikolas Khamenia (14) and guard Isaiah Evans (3) huddle up against the Virginia Cavaliers.Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

For Hurley and the Huskies, this is a low-risk, but high-reward type of addition as Khamenia will have a chance to blossom into the star he was once projected to be.

He joins a 2027 UConn class that also features Seton Hall transfer Najai Hines, and five-star guard Colben Landrew. UConn's combined class ranking was No. 27 before his commitment, and will likely only skyrocket after.

The Huskies finished as runners-up in the NCAA Tournament, losing to Michigan 69-63.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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