### BREAKING: Five-Star PG Kyan Evans Commits to North Carolina, Declares “I’m Here to Be the Next Ty Lawson, the Next Raymond, the Next Cole”
**CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – November 30, 2025, 8:42 p.m. ET**
**By Ross Martin, Inside Carolina**
Kyan Evans, the No. 4 overall recruit in the 2026 class and consensus top point guard in America, ended the longest-running recruitment saga of the cycle tonight with eight simple words on a live Instagram broadcast from his kitchen table in Atlanta:
“Carolina blue runs the deepest. I’m coming home.”
At 8:47 p.m., the UNC official X account dropped the graphic: a powder-blue jersey with EVANS 1 hanging in the Smith Center rafters. Within three minutes it had 110,000 likes. By 9:15 p.m., the Dean Dome ticket office phone lines crashed from season-ticket renewal calls.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pound blur from St. Pius X High School (Ga.) chose North Carolina over Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, and a late-charging Arkansas offer that reportedly reached eight figures in NIL. Sources tell Inside Carolina the final Carolina package is believed to be north of $4.2 million for Year 1, anchored by a landmark Jordan Brand deal and local Charlotte-based collectives.
But Evans didn’t mention money once in his 11-minute announcement.
He mentioned names instead.
“Ty Lawson. Raymond Felton. Kendall Marshall. Cole Anthony. Coby White. RJ Davis,” he said, ticking them off on his fingers. “Every time Carolina needed a floor general who could push it 94 feet, get in the paint, and make the right play late, they had one. I watched every one of those March runs growing up. I’m not here to be different. I’m here to be next.”
He then held up a framed photo of the 2009 national championship team and pointed to the point guard in the front row.
“Coach Felton told me last week, ‘We don’t rebuild the position. We reload it.’ I’m the reload.”
**Instant Reaction from the Carolina Family**
Hubert Davis, visibly emotional on the Zoom that followed the commitment, called it “the most important recruiting win of my head-coaching career.”
“People keep asking me who’s going to replace RJ,” Davis said. “I’ve been telling them the same thing for six months: his name is Kyan Evans, and he’s better than all of us were at 17.”
Roy Williams, watching from his living room, texted the staff two words: “He’s special.”
Michael Jordan, who personally called Evans on Thanksgiving night, issued a rare public statement through the Hornets: “Welcome to the family, young fella. Carolina Point Guard U just got its next franchise player.”
**Why This Commitment Changes Everything**
Carolina’s 2025–26 backcourt was already loaded with five-star wings Drake Powell and Ian Jackson, plus rising sophomore Elliot Cadeau. But the departure of RJ Davis to the 2025 NBA Draft left a leadership vacuum at the most important position in Chapel Hill’s system.
Enter Evans, who many scouts believe is the most complete lead guard to come out of high school since Cade Cunningham.
This season at St. Pius he is averaging 28.4 points, 8.1 assists, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.1 steals while shooting 42% from three and 89% from the line. He has led his team to a 28–0 record and the No. 1 national ranking in MaxPreps. In July he dropped 41 points and 12 assists on Duke commit Darren Harris in the Nike EYBL Peach Jam championship, then stared down the Duke bench after the game-winning step-back.
That clip has 14 million views and counting.
**The Quote That Broke Tar Heel Twitter**
When asked how he plans to handle the pressure of following Carolina’s legendary point-guard lineage, Evans leaned into the camera and delivered the line that will be on T-shirts by tomorrow morning:
“Pressure? Man, I was born in the fire. I’m not scared of the flames. I’m here to turn the heat up.”
Within seconds #TurnTheHeatUp was the No. 1 trending topic in the United States.
**Immediate Recruiting Ripple Effects**
Moments after Evans committed, Class of 2026 five-star forward Caleb Holt (Huntsville, Ala.) posted a thinking-face emoji, sources tell Inside Carolina he will take an official visit to UNC the weekend of January 10–12. Another top-15 prospect, shooting guard Jordan Smith Jr. (Paul VI, Va.), tweeted “Next call ” with a phone emoji.
The Tar Heels now hold the early No. 1 recruiting class for 2026 and are the overwhelming favorite to finish there.
**The Final Word**
As the broadcast ended, Evans stood up, put on a 2009 championship hat backwards, and walked outside where hundreds of Carolina fans had already gathered on his quiet cul-de-sac waving flags.
He grabbed a megaphone from a neighbor and yelled one last time:
“See y’all in Late Night With Roy 2026. And then see y’all in Phoenix for the natty in 2027.”
Then he dropped the megaphone, dapped up his little brother, and disappeared into a sea of powder blue.
The torch wasn’t passed tonight.
It was snatched.
Welcome to Chapel Hill, Kyan Evans.
The point-guard factory just got its next legend.
(Word count: 1,008)
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