SportsCollege

Actions

Duke makes history with trio of players selected among top 10 picks of NBA Draft

Posted at 11:04 PM, Jun 20, 2019
and last updated 2019-06-20 23:04:36-04

Zion Williamson poses with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

BROOKLYN, NY (Duke Sports Information) – Having three of the first top 10 players drafted, including the No. 1 pick in Zion Williamson, Duke men’s basketball made NBA Draft history on Thursday evening at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

As NBA Commissioner Adam Silver – a 1984 Duke alum – announced Williamson’s name to the New Orleans Pelicans, the Blue Devils broke a tie with Kentucky for the most No. 1 overall picks all-time. Williamson joins Art Heyman (1963, New York Knicks), Elton Brand (1999, Chicago Bulls) and Kyrie Irving (2011, Cleveland Cavaliers) as the four Blue Devils to be selected with the top pick.

RJ Barrett poses with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

Two picks after Williamson, classmate RJ Barrett was selected by the Knicks with the third overall pick, while Cam Reddish went to the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 10 selection.

Duke now joins Florida as the only college programs in NBA Draft history to have three players selected in the top 10 of a single draft. This season marks the sixth consecutive that Duke has had a player selected in the top three, the longest streak by a school all-time. UCLA held the previous record of four straight seasons between 1974 and 1977.