Duke standout Isaiah Evans makes major career decision as NBA draft combine gets underway

Duke Blue Devils guard Isaiah Evans has made a major career decision on Sunday, which is the start of the 2025 NBA draft combine. Per Recruits News on Instagram, the Duke standout has withdrawn his name from this year's NBA draft and will not be participating at the combine, effectively placing him on Duke's roster for the 2025-2026 season.

Isaiah Evans had a decent freshman season as he showed off his impressive shooting ability. He burst onto the scene with an 18-point explosion in an 84-78 win over Auburn back in December.

However, he struggled with consistency for most of the campaign. The Huntersville, North Carolina native finished his first season averaging 6.8 points with a 41.6% percentage on his 1.7 three-pointers per contest, to go along with 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists in around 13.7 minutes of playing time in 36 games played.

Evans was also not able to play as much in the 2025 March Madness, logging just 7.6 minutes a game for that run.

With Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach, and Tyrese Proctor all declaring for the draft, Evans will likely see more opportunities to showcase his strengths for Jon Scheyer's team in his sophomore season.

Isaiah Evans will be joined by the Boozer twins and Nik Khamenia in the 2025-2026 season

As Isaiah Evans looks set to play a second season with the Duke Blue Devils in the 2025-2026 campaign, the sharpshooter will be joined by a strong 2026 class headlined by the Boozer twins, Cayden and Cameron, and Nik Khamenia. The freshman class currently ranks third in 247Sports' 2025 recruitment rankings.

The Boozer twins are the sons of former NBA and Duke star Carlos Boozer. Cameron and Cayden are ranked third and 23rd, respectively, in the Class of 2025, per 247Sports. Khamenia, who is also a five-star recruit, is ranked 15th.

With Evans back to bolster the Duke lineup for next season, the Blue Devils will look to make another run at the national championship. They fell in the Final Four last season, which extended their national title drought to a decade.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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Edited by Brad Taningco