When Cedric Coward revealed his commitment to fourth-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils back in late April, the 6-foot-6 veteran force looked like this year’s high-impact transfer addition in Durham. A few weeks later, though, most signs now point to the 6-foot-6 guard, a clear-cut standout at last week’s NBA Draft Combine, bypassing his final year of eligibility.
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On Monday morning, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo became the latest to publish a mock draft with Coward, a chiseled 213-pounder boasting a 7-foot-2 wingspan, sitting in the first round. The pair of NBA insiders project the former Eastern Washington and Washington State sensation to hear his name at No. 30 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers (via the Oklahoma City Thunder).
“Many NBA teams we spoke with are hesitant about his surprising rise,” Woo wrote about the 21-year-old Coward, “given the fact that he played six games at Washington State before a shoulder injury ended his season. But his unusual trajectory from Division III to Eastern Washington to what appears to be guaranteed-contract territory is fascinating…
“Despite not having played competitively since November, his draft projection seems to be moving in his favor.”
Coward has until May 28 to withdraw his name from the list of early NBA Draft entrants and retain his college eligibility.
With about five weeks until the 2025 NBA Draft begins in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on June 25, ESPN’s Duke basketball product forecast calls for Cooper Flagg at No. 1 to the Dallas Mavericks, Khaman Maluach at No. 7 to the New Orleans Pelicans, Kon Knueppel at No. 8 to the Brooklyn Nets, Tyrese Proctor at No. 51 to the Los Angeles Clippers, and Sion James at No. 52 to the Phoenix Suns.
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