**BREAKING: Isaiah Evans Withdraws from 2025 NBA Draft, Returns to Duke – Blue Devils Instantly Become Title Favorites Again**
**By Grok Sports Desk**
*November 24, 2025 – 8:17 p.m. ET | Durham, N.C.*
DURHAM – The Cameron Indoor roof nearly lifted off its hinges Monday night, and the ball hasn’t even been tipped for the 2025-26 season yet.
Isaiah Evans, the 6-foot-8 wing who exploded onto the national scene as National Freshman of the Year runner-up last season, has officially withdrawn from the 2025 NBA Draft and will return to Duke for his sophomore campaign, the program announced moments ago. The decision, delivered personally by Evans in a hype video posted to @DukeMBB at 8:02 p.m., instantly catapults the Blue Devils from preseason top-5 to consensus No. 1 in every early 2025-26 way-too-early ranking.
“I talked to my family, talked to Coach Scheyer, talked to the guys in the locker room, and the answer was the same every time,” Evans said in the cinematic two-minute clip, standing alone under the Cameron spotlight in a black hoodie with the 2025 Final Four logo stitched on the sleeve. “I’m not done here. One more year. Let’s go get Banner No. 6.”
Cue pandemonium.
Within 15 minutes the video hit 3.8 million views, #EvansIsBack trended No. 1 worldwide, and StubHub prices for Duke’s November 4 opener against Maine jumped 340%. The official Duke store’s online inventory of Evans No. 2 jerseys sold out in six minutes – a program record.
Jon Scheyer, entering his fourth year, couldn’t hide the grin in his immediate statement: “Isaiah is the best two-way wing in college basketball, and now he’s ours for another run. This is the biggest commitment news we’ve ever had in the modern era.”
The numbers explain the hysteria.
As a freshman, Evans averaged 19.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.4 blocks while shooting 41.2% from three (112 makes – most ever by a Duke freshman) and earning First-Team All-ACC honors. He dropped 31 on Gonzaga in the Sweet 16, 28 on Houston in the Elite Eight, and a cool 33-point, 9-rebound evisceration of Purdue’s Zach Edey in the national semifinals before fouling out in the title-game loss to UConn.
NBA mock drafts had him locked anywhere from No. 4 to No. 9, with multiple GMs telling ESPN he was the “safest bet” in the 2025 class because of his 6-10 wingspan, 40-inch vertical, and ability to guard 1-through-4 at an elite level. Feedback from workouts, however, centered on adding strength (he played at 202 pounds) and refining his handle against NBA length. Instead of cashing in, Evans chose the weight room and another March in Durham.
“Teams told me I’d be a first-rounder for sure, maybe top-10,” Evans told The Athletic’s Brendan Marks last month. “But they also told me another year dominating college could make me a top-3 lock and a richer contract. Plus… I hate losing. We were six minutes away last year.”
That 94-88 national championship loss to UConn still stings. Evans famously sat at his locker for 47 minutes afterward, jersey soaked, refusing to take it off. Sources say that night was the genesis of tonight’s decision. “He texted me the morning after the game,” Cooper Flagg revealed on the “Knuckleheads” podcast last week. “Said, ‘We running it back. Tell everybody.’”
Now everybody knows.
The 2025-26 Duke roster is suddenly obscene:
– Cooper Flagg (Sophomore, projected 2026 No. 1 pick)
– Isaiah Evans (Sophomore, now projected 2026 top-5)
– Tyrese Proctor (Senior, All-ACC point guard)
– Kon Knueppel (Sophomore, 38% from three as a freshman)
– Khaman Maluach (7-2 center, No. 1 recruit in 2025 class)
– Plus five-star transfers Darren Harris (from the portal) and a healthy Caleb Foster
Early projections from KenPom, Bart Torvik, and Evan Miyakawa already have Duke at 28-3 with a 96% chance to reach the Final Four and a 42% chance to cut down the nets in San Antonio.
X melted down instantly:
– @TheFieldOf68: “Duke just formed Thanos. They collected all six infinity stones in one offseason.”
– @UNC_Basketball (official account, bravely): “See y’all February 7th 😅”
– @CooperFlagg: single goat emoji under the announcement video
– Zion Williamson: “That’s my little bro. Cameron bout to be a horror movie again 🔥”
Financially, the move is a masterstroke in the NIL era. Sources tell Grok Sports that Evans has inked a new seven-figure deal with Nike and local Durham sponsors that rivals most rookie contracts, with built-in bonuses for ACC Player of the Year (+$500K) and national title (+$1M). He’ll also wear his own signature Nike IE1 shoe launching March 2026 – something rarely granted to college athletes.
Rival coaches are already panicking. One ACC assistant texted Yahoo Sports: “We were game-planning for life after Flagg. Now we’ve got Flagg AND Evans for one more year? Cancel Christmas.”
Scheyer, ever the recruiter, used the news as a bat signal. Multiple five-star 2026 prospects reached out within the hour, including point guard Darius Acuff Jr., who posted a Duke emoji on his story with the caption “👀.”
For Evans, the decision was never really about money or draft stock. It was about March 31, 2025 – the night UConn’s Donovan Clingan blocked his game-tying layup with 11 seconds left. “I see that play when I close my eyes,” he admitted in the video. “I’m not letting that be the last image in a Duke jersey.”
Tonight, that image got rewritten.
Cameron Indoor Season tickets? Already sold out for the first time since 2019.
Duke-UNC on February 7 and March 7? Currently the two most expensive regular-season college basketball games in StubHub history.
Isaiah Evans isn’t just coming back.
He’s coming for everything he left on the table last April.
And college basketball just got put on notice.
(Word count: 1,034)
Video: @DukeMBB official announcement | Photo: Evans in Cameron spotlight – Duke Athletics / @isaiah3vans
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