Duke Blue Devils After this year's competition, I cruised over a 25-3 record, including a whopping 16-1 at the ACC, which was in the middle of being ranked. AP Top 25 2nd Team And there's the possibility of being the number one seed in the NCAA tournament.
However, unlike many teams in the world of college basketball today, the Blue Devils opposed the trend in the transfer portal, instead loading the roster with six top 40 freshmen, with Cooper Flag leading the way.
Three of these recruits, Flag, Concnupel and Kamanmaruach, will begin this year for the Blue Devils and are expected to be their first round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
However, as a season of Blue Devils continued, the fourth appeared in the rotation, serving as the X-factor from the team's bench. Who might be like that?
Meet Isaiah Evans, a top 15 freshman and the most highly rated five-star freshman in the 2024 class.
Coming to Duke with hype and high expectations, Evans began the year near the back of the rotation and fought a few minutes in the lineup.
As the season arrived, the five-star portion fluctuated as the Blue Devils had a guard group worthy of minutes, including Flag, Knoupel, Tyrese Proctor, Caleb Foster and Theon James.
But Evans's trick to winning basketball made him a key member of Lott.
One of the best pure scorers in the country, not just the freshman class, but also the entire country, Evans averaged 7.4 points in just 13.8 minutes per game this season, reaching 47.1% of three attempts per game.
The score was impressive, but the 5-star stretch led to more minutes and improved defense improvements.
“Man, I could talk about Isaiah forever, how proud am I of him?” Head coach John Shayer said During his media presser this week. “You know, he never hesitated to shoot in his life, and he has the highest confidence in it.
“But what he did was he became a really good defender. He got stronger and he did the work he did in the weight room, his ability to move his legs, his rebound, his positioning. [has all gotten better]. ”
Rather than seeing more feature roles in another program, Evans has not moved away from competition and responsibility. Additionally, he is beginning to gain the trust of his coaching staff at the most important times of the season.
“He's a big two-way wing,” continued Shayer of Evans. “So when he's there, I'm totally confident in what he's doing. I think the offense is obvious, but for defensive purposes, the growth he's made is really incredible.
“And that's going to lead to more minutes. The only role he plays for us is a key role, and he got it. He actually did it every day. [I’m] I'm really proud of him for his attitude. ”
The Blue Devils had a strong freshman class in the past. However, the group in this group has been compared to the field, and Duke has a great shot running to the National Championship Game this year.
But for them to achieve that goal, their depth needs to continue playing late this year, and Evans is undoubtedly the most important part of the group.
The five-star guard is blooming at the exact right time, filling the Blue Devils with huge sparks from the bench, and living up to the hype.
