Duke men’s basketball gets commitment from top high school player in North Carolina

Langston Wertz Jr.
·2 min read
11

Isaiah Evans, the top boys basketball player in North Carolina who played this past season at North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville, committed to Duke on Thursday night. Evans was named Mr. Basketball in North Carolina last month.

Evans, a 6-foot-7 junior guard, led his team to a 29-3 record and a berth in the N.C. 4A West Regional championship game. Towards the end of the season, 247 Sports moved Evans into the top 10 of its national rankings for players in the junior class, shortly following a school-record 62-point scoring outburst in a playoff win against rival Chambers High School.

The 62 points are the fourth-most scored by an N.C. public school basketball player.

For the season, Evans averaged 26 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.1 blocks. He scored 40 or more points in four of his final seven games of the season.

He scored 859 points this year, 1,438 for his career, and is on pace to become the 52nd public school player to score 2,000 career points, according to NCHSAA records. This season, Evans — who played junior varsity as a freshman — had 18 games with at least 25 points, 10 with at least 30 and four games with at least 40 points.

He was among three boys finalists for the Mr. Basketball award, joining Carmel Christian junior Jaeden Mustaf and Northwood’s Drake Powell, a UNC commit. Mustaf and Powell are both ranked among the nation’s top 35 recruits.

Evans joins Duke’s 2024 recruiting class that also includes 6-6 small forward Darren Harris, who is the No. 54 player in the class nationally. A four-star recruit from Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Virginia, Harris committed to Duke last October.

Duke’s class is currently rated No. 6 nationally, according to 247sports.com. The Blue Devils are also heavily recruiting the No. 2 player in the class, 6-5 shooting guard Dylan Harper from Don Bosco Prep School in Ramsey, New Jersey. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and the rest of the coaching staff attended Harper’s games with the New York Rens during a Nike EYBL event in Atlanta last weekend.

Harper is averaging 16 points per game in EYBL play, having made 53.3% of his shots, with 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Duke’s staff is in Phoenix this weekend watching more EYBL games.

Steve Wiseman from the (Raleigh) News & Observer contributed to this article.