Cedric Coward to Remain in 2025 NBA Draft After Committing to Duke in Transfer Portal

Cedric Coward, who committed to Duke out of the transfer portal in April, plans to forgo his collegiate eligibility and remain in the 2025 NBA draft, per ESPN's Jonathan Givony.

Coward, who spent the 2024-25 season with Washington State, said entering the draft is the best move for him at this point in his career.

"This is the best opportunity for me to achieve part of my dream, which is making the NBA," Coward said, per Givony. "Everything is pointing in the right direction right now to follow that."

Coward began his collegiate career at Division III Willamette in 2021 before transferring to Eastern Washington for two years. In his junior season at Eastern Washington, Coward put up 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

At Washington State last season, Coward played just six games before suffering a season-ending torn labrum. He was outstanding in his few games with the Cougars, posting 17.7 points and 7.0 boards per game, making him the No. 13 overall player in this year's transfer class, according to 247Sports

Had he decided to stay in college, he likely would have been an impact player for the Blue Devils as they look to replace Cooper Flagg.

Coward's recent injury makes it a bit hard to analyze him as a draft prospect, but he's shown potential over the past few years and reassured teams that he's NBA-ready with an outstanding performance at the combine earlier this month.

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projects Coward to land with the San Antonio Spurs at No. 14 in his most recent mock draft.

Duke will lose some key players to the draft this year, namely Flagg and Kon Knueppel, but the Blue Devils shouldn't take much of a step back thanks to a strong recruiting class.

Per 247Sports' composite rankings, Duke has the top-rated recruiting class this year. Twin brothers Cameron and Cayden Boozer, sons of former NBA star Carlos Boozer, highlight the group as 5 and 4-star recruits, respectively. The Blue Devils boast three 5-star prospects and two 4-star prospects in total.