Kwame Evans Jr., nation's No. 2 overall basketball prospect in 2023, down to final 5; Oregon, UCLA make cut

Consensus five-star forward Kwame Evans Jr. is down to a final five schools. He revealed his final five on his Instagram Monday afternoon.

The 6-foot-9, 200-pound superstar, out of Montverde Academy (Florida), trimmed his list to Auburn, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon and UCLA.

Evans is rated the nation’s No. 2 overall prospect in the class of 2023 and is firmly in the discussion to be the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

Last spring, Evans elected to transfer to Montverde Academy following a stellar start to his high school career at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute.

Recently, he helped lead his new school to a 2022 GEICO Nationals championship, averaging eight points and six rebounds per game in the nationally-televised eight-team tournament.

Evans has kept his cards close to the vest regarding his recruitment, but has taken an official visit to Kentucky and is set to take a trip to Eugene beginning April 29.

Oregon recently secured the commitment of fellow class of 2023 five-star prospect Mookie Cook, whose AZ Compass Prep squad played Montverde Academy on the day he committed (April 1). Cook said he sent a clear message to Evans about playing together in Eugene.

“I told him when I walked by him, I said, ’We got to get that done, man.’ That would be a big, big pickup,” Cook said on “Recruiting with Andrew Nemec” on 1080 The FAN. “He’s a great player. … He can pretty much do everything. He can pop, he can finish inside, he can guard one through four, one through five at 6-10. He’s got actually fast feet. He’s agile. So that would definitely be a great pick-up.”

Evans has not set a commitment date. 

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