This Duke Blue Devils star has landed himself a rather surprising ranking for the NBA Draft.
We know that Cameron Boozer is the Duke Blue Devils' top NBA prospect, but he isn't the only player from Durham preparing to head to the pros.
There is also wing Isaiah Evans, who initially planned to enter the NBA Draft last year but decided to withdraw his name to return to Duke for more seasoning.
It was probably a good move for Evans.
In fact, it's becoming more and more clear that there is still some doubt concerning Evans' NBA capabilities, and ESPN's Jeremy Woo made that clear by ranking him 25th on his list of the top 100 prospects heading into the draft.
"Evans is still raw as a ball handler, needs to gain strength and can be a more consistent defender, but his ability to knock down tough shots is a separating factor in this part of the draft," Woo wrote. "When he has it going from long range, it's easy to argue for the upside."
Evans is averaging 14.7 points and three rebounds over 27.7 minutes per game on 43.1/36.1/88.0 shooting splits this season.
He has scored 21 points in two of his last three contests and has actually been shooting the 3-ball very well of late, having gone 12-for-24 from long distance over his last three games.
Duke Blue Devils guard Isaiah Evans. Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images.There is no question that Evans could stand to develop some consistency with his perimeter shot. That being said, he showed serious potential from beyond the arc during his freshman campaign with the Blue Devils.
Last season, Evans drained 41.6 percent of his three-point tries on 4.1 attempts per game, so the volume was there, too.
Clearly, the 6-foot-6 swingman has the ability to develop into quite the marksman from downtown. Whether or not he can do it with regularity, though, remains to be seen.
Evans is generally viewed as a mid first-round pick at the moment and has drawn comparisons to former Duke star Brandon Ingram due to his frame and his ability on the offensive end of the floor.
The Fayetteville, N.C. native has the potential to become a pretty effective two-way player, but it's evident he still has work to do.
It seems very hard to imagine Evans returning for his junior season, so he will definitely need to ramp things up to prepare for the draft as the 2025-26 campaign draws to a close.
Duke Roundtable also offers a fan community and message board. We’d love to have you join us to talk all things Duke Blue Devils. Click the “Join” button at the top of the page to join our community for free.