Former North Mecklenburg star Isaiah Evans isn’t just waiting for his moment in the NBA, he’s worked for it.
He just finished this past season as Duke’s second-leading scorer and is expected to be picked in the NBA draft.
ALSO READ: Hornets to build on last year’s success in 2026 NBA Draft
Channel 9’s DaShawn Brown sat down with Evans’ mom for a look back on their journey.
“If there is one thing I will take credit for it’s teaching him work ethic. I know for a fact I have taught him. You don’t get anything that you did not work for,” Marikeke Lemon said.
Evans has been accomplished since his high school days. At North Meck, Evans was a McDonald’s All-American and North Carolina’s Mr. Basketball. He also had his jersey retired.
“A lot of times people think it’s just natural. He put in a lot of hours,“ North Meck boys basketball coach Duana Lewis said. ”He sacrificed, and he’s made himself into a player.”
Lewis has been the coach at North Meck for more than 25 years.
“My philosophy—I’ve said it one million times. We’re trying to create Alphas,“ Lewis said. ”And we saw that in Isaiah.”
Lewis said that Evans was on a different level
“Every kid thinks they want it, but he was on another level,” Lewis said.
“In eighth grade he started doing morning workouts,“ Isaiah’s mom said. ”It was actually trying to do it at the school, so that didn’t work. Now I have to buy a membership, a gym membership.”
>> Learn more about Evans’ jounrey to the NBA in the video at the top of the page.
