Ranking Duke basketball’s 14 recruiting prospects from 2023 class

3. Duke basketball recruiting prospect KJ Evans

• Small forward
• 6-foot-9, 190 pounds
• No. 5 overall on the 247Sports 2023 Composite

By the end of the first day of the open-contact period last week, Pro Insight director of scouting Andrew Slater reported that Baltimore Polytechnic (Md.) five-star small forward KJ Evans had seen his phone blow up with calls from a dozen power-conference programs.

That list consists of Duke, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, LSU, Maryland, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pitt, Southern Cal, Texas, and UCLA. Now, Evans holds more than 20 offers.

Dushawn London of 247Sports recently provided a brief assessment of the potential-packed multifaceted prospect:

"“Evans has become a deep-threat option with a lot of versatility to his game. He can take defenders off the dribble and finish at the rim with either hand.”"

It seems one could make the argument that Evans will ultimately wind up with the most successful basketball career among his 2023 peers. His uniquely long frame plus the utter fluidity in his skillset are likely to translate to him becoming a high lottery pick in a couple of years, no matter where he winds up playing the season after his high school graduation.