Blue Devil Bombshell: Isaiah Evans Does a Sudden U‑Turn, Enters the Transfer Portal—and Duke’s Off‑Season Balance Sheet Tilts from “Manageable” to “Mayday”

In a twist no one—least of all Jon Scheyer—saw coming, sophomore wing Isaiah Evans has officially entered the NCAA transfer portal, just seven weeks after publicly pledging to return for the 2025‑26 season. The filing appeared on the national portal ledger just after sunrise, ending hours of overnight rumor‑mill frenzy and plunging Duke fans into collective whiplash.

Less than a month ago, CBS Sports framed Evans as a key “sure thing” alongside guard Caleb Foster and prized inbound transfer Cedric Coward. In fact, Evans—once hailed as Brandon Ingram 2.0—averaged 6.8 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists in only 14 minutes per game last winter while flashing a sky‑high ceiling

For Scheyer, the timing could hardly be worse. The Blue Devils were already absorbing the tandem gut‑punch of Wooden Award winner Cooper Flagg’s NBA declaration and the early‑spring procession of fringe contributors out of Durham—names such as TJ Power, Jaylen Blakes, Jaden Schutt, Mark Mitchell, Christian Reeves and Jeremy Roach all exited via last year’s portal window, creating the exodus Duke Nation dubbed “The April Attrition”

Scheyer stabilized the deck by landing Coward, a 17‑point‑per‑game wing from Washington State, and convincing Foster, Evans and defensive ace Maliq Brown to stay. Now that house of cards is wobbling again.

Inside the program, staffers had privately conceded that Evans’ development curve would decide whether Duke remained a “vacation stop” between Final Four and national‑title contention or slipped backward toward ACC pack‑midden. One assistant told The Chronicle last week that the 6‑foot‑6 scorer had “looked like the best player in the gym” during June captain’s runs. That quote aged about as well as milk on a Durham sidewalk.

Playing‑time calculus. With Coward’s arrival and Foster’s renewed commitment, minutes on the wing were suddenly a knife fight. Evans’ camp feared another season of 15‑minute cameos could torpedo an NBA timetable.

Escalating NIL offers. Multiple SEC collectives reportedly dangled seven‑figure, multi‑year packages built around personalized content channels and private‑label apparel drops—exactly the type of creative, revenue‑sharing deal Duke’s more conservative marketing arm has resisted.

Within 30 minutes of the portal filing, PortalDevil” trended among college‑basketball hashtags on X. Message boards that spent April debating who should start at the four now host 50‑page threads blasting “loyalty‑in‑the‑NIL‑era” or, conversely, “Duke’s antiquated collectives.” The notorious Devil’s Den forum crashed twice overnight.

Alums, meanwhile, are split. Former Blue Devil Jay Williams urged calm on ESPN Radio, noting that Scheyer “survived far worse with the 2024 seven‑man exit” and still reached a 2025 Final Four. Shane Battier struck a different chord, tweeting a thinly veiled jab: “When you spend the offseason recruiting retention instead of defense, you defend nothing.”

With the portal’s 45‑day spring window already closed, Evans’ late entry is legal under the NCAA’s one‑time transfer exception (he’s inside the 30‑day post‑coach‑change threshold triggered by Duke assistant Jai Lucas departing for the NBA). But Scheyer’s ability to backfill is severely restricted. Only graduate transfers can sign immediately, and the best of that crop—Illinois marksman RJ Luis—committed to UConn on Thursday. Duke can still explore international prospects or splash its final scholarship on a reclassified 2026 high‑schooler, yet neither path provides ACC‑battle‑tested production.