Duke basketball freshman labeled as 'absolute killer' as hype builds around potential

Each member of the Duke basketball recruiting class has its own hype, some bigger than others.

One recruit that had many people excited was the local product, North Mecklenburg (NC) standout Isaiah Evans, but the buzz surrounding Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach as soon as they arrived on campus quieted the chatter around the talented wing.

However, Evans stepped back into the spotlight at the Jayson Tatum Elite Camp last week, according to Jon Chepkevich, the Director of Scouting at DraftExpress.

Chepkevich said that he was "an absolute killer during constraint-based isolation drills."

The slender 6-foot-6, 175 pound wing has always been recognized as an elite 1-on-1 player but concerns that have been brought up about his body size and strength might have been silenced while competing against other college players at the camp.

"Knocked down contested shots as you might expect, but more notably brought a ton of fire, fight, and pride defensively," he continued.

Isaiah Evans, a McDonald's All-American, was ranked as the No. 15 player in the Class of 2024, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. He was named as the North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 27.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game during his senior season.

He took his game to the next level in the postseason, winning a state championship and posted 31.3 points per contest in the process.

Evans was fairly quiet in the short 5-on-5 scrimmage highlights that Duke posted on YouTube once summer workouts began.

Tyrese Proctor, Sion James, Kon Knueppel, and Evans were all the Duke players at the Jayson Tatum and Chris Paul camps last week and received glowing reviews from scouts in attendance.

The Blue Devils will not have its full roster together again until the start of the fall semester as other players compete internationally this summer.