Latest Duke Chronicle Profile: Isaiah Evans

A promising talent and leader, Evans has a chance to be special at Duke.

As the Duke Chronicle continues its annual series on Duke freshmen, Durham’s finest newspaper turns its eyes to Isaiah Evans.

The immediate comparison is to Brandon Ingram. Like Ingram, Evans is from North Carolina and ridiculously skinny and a brilliant offensive weapon.

We’ll see how that holds up.

Ingram was painfully thin at Duke and Evans threatens to be. Currently listed at 6-6 and 175, he’s by far the lightest players on this year’s squad.

His greatest talent is that he's an outstanding all-around offensive player but a secondary selling point on Evans is his emotional style of play.

The Chronicle calls it fiery.

Evans may have problems with his weight, but he’s a solid offensive talent and willing to work on defense too. And with coach Jon Scheyer, that’s really important.

There’s one more thing about Evans we like and that’s loyalty. Teammate Cooper Flagg left his Maine high school for Montervde; Evans chose to stay with North Mecklenburg.

In Flagg’s case, coming from small-town Maine, Montverde exposed him and brother Ace to a much higher level of competition.

For Evans, staying loyal to his family, friends and teammates was a great decision too and says a lot about his priorities. He could have played anywhere but he chose to stay home.

His weight may limit him at first but his talent, emotional leadership and raw talent will help him to build a special career at Duke and beyond.

• Film room: Fiery forward Isaiah Evans will bring energy and elite shooting to the Blue Devils
• Film room: Patrick Ngongba II looks to shore up the post with size, strength inside
• Film room: Kon Knueppel brings shooting ability, physicality to men’s basketball roster