One of the biggest storylines surrounding the 2025 NBA Draft was the rise of former Duke commit Cedric Coward into a lottery pick. Coward was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and then traded to the Memphis Grizzlies. Before the draft though, Coward had committed to Duke and Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer recently spoke about how he had never seen anything like Coward’s rise in the draft, as per Sam Gillenwater of On3 Sports.

“I’ve never seen anything like that. It was, again, like I said, very happy for him. But, you have to, you know – somebody told me this once, and, you know, I think it applies now in recruiting, especially in those situations, but coaching is making real-time decisions with imperfect information,” Scheyer said. “You know, you don’t always have the information in those moments. And so, like I said, the transparency was key.”

Cedric Coward had originally committed to Duke after entering the transfer portal and simultaneously declaring for the NBA Draft. After seeing his draft stock rise to the point where he was being considered a lottery pick, Coward ultimately decided to remain in the draft instead of playing his last year of eligibility with the Blue Devils.

His path to the NBA was an uncommon route as well. He started off his college career at Division 3 Willamette where he played one season before transferring to Eastern Washington. After two seasons with the Eagles, he transferred to Washington State where he was limited to only six games due to injury.

But following a strong showing at the NBA Draft combine along with his skill-set and player archetype, Coward rose from a sure-fire first round pick to a sure-bet lottery pick. Coward joins Javon Small and Jahmai Mashack, both of whom were drafted in the second round, as the Grizzlies’ rookies this upcoming season.