Isaiah Evans and the Duke Blue Devils fell short of expectations during the 2025-26 college basketball season. After securing the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, Duke advanced all the way to the Elite Eight, but it fell just short of the Final Four after Braylon Mullins hit a game-winning shot to help the No. 2 seed UConn Huskies secure the win.
Despite the disappointing March Madness ending, Evans still had the best season of his two-year college career. The sophomore guard from Fayetteville, North Carolina, started in all 38 appearances, averaging career highs of 15.0 points on 43.3% shooting, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. And while Evans hasn’t decided on his basketball future just yet, one of his Blue Devils teammates has.
Sebastian Wilkins, a 6-foot-8 guard/forward hybrid out of Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, New Hampshire), was a four-star prospect in the class of 2025 (247Sports). He ranked as the 47th-best overall recruit in his class, along with the 11th-best power forward and the second-best from the state of New Hampshire.
Wilkins was originally a prospect in the 2026 recruiting class but reclassified to 2025. With less high school experience than other incoming Duke freshmen, including Cameron and Cayden Boozer and Nikolas Khamenia, Wilkins and head coach Jon Scheyer agreed that taking a redshirt year in 2025-26 was his best option. Wilkins did not appear in a single game for the Blue Devils this past season.
And on Tuesday, Wilkins revealed his commitment to Duke going forward, revealing on social media that he would be returning to Durham for the 2026-27 season as a redshirt freshman.
“back,” Wilkins wrote on Instagram. “Unfinished business 💙😈 #year2”
Evans took notice of his teammate’s announcement, showing support for Wilkins in the comments: “Bash.”
While Evans’ future is still up in the air, Duke does have a few key players returning next season, including Cayden Boozer and starting center Patrick Ngongba II.
Related: Duke’s Cameron Boozer Reacts to Career Announcement on Monday
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Apr 21, 2026, where it first appeared in the College section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.