Former Eastern Washington and Washington State star Cedric Coward is ranked No. 13 overall and No. 2 among shooting guards in this year’s transfer portal, according to 247Sports, two weeks after declaring his commitment to fourth-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer and the Blue Devils.
It wouldn’t be shocking, though, if Coward, a former unrated prep from Fresno, California, rose nearly as high as No. 13 on mock drafts by the time the NBA Draft Combine, which started on Monday, concludes in Chicago’s Wintrust Arena next week, considering his current trajectory as a highly athletic NBA Draft prospect enjoying top-shelf length for his position.
The Blue Devils would most likely have to bid farewell to their hopes of really adding Cedric Coward to the anticipated top-10 roster in Durham the following season if such were the case.
The 6-foot-5, 213-pound Coward did indeed stand out in the measures section on the first day of the NBA Draft Combine. Coward has an 8-foot-10 standing reach and an official wingspan of over 7-foot-2, which is an astonishing nine inches more than his height, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony.
“Pretty impressive measurements,” Givony noted, “from the potential Duke recruit.”
The 21-year-old Coward has already made the first round on several major boards, with little over two weeks remaining until the May 28 deadline to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft and keep his final season of college eligibility.
In the meanwhile, Duke basketball has a strong eight-man rotation set up for the upcoming season even without him. However, Coward’s length, strength, experience, and instincts on both ends of the court suggest that his choice between the Duke and the NBA could potentially determine whether the 2025–26 Blue Devils start in the top five of the AP Top 25 Poll.
