Only two NCAA basketball schools have more than two No. 1 NBA draft picks in program history. In fact, less than 20 schools have ever produced more than one. With such a deep pool of international players and more parity than most collegiate sports, it’s hard to reliably have the best player in the country.
Which makes it even crazier that Duke basketball has produced five top draft picks, two more than any other school.
Art Heyman became the first No. 1 pick in school history back in 1963, and the Blue Devils needed to wait more than 35 years before Elton Brand became the second in 1999. In the past 15 years, however, Duke has seen [autotag]Kyrie Irving[/autotag] (2011), [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag] (2019), and [autotag]Paolo Banchero[/autotag] (2022) each get their name called first on draft night.
The Kentucky Wildcats are the only other program with more than two No. 1 picks, and they still only have three.
Duke’s number might get even bigger in the near future with [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top prospect in the Class of 2024 and a 6-foot-9 forward hailed as a generational talent, thought of as the presumptive favorite for the 2025 draft.
1️⃣9️⃣ schools have seen multiple players selected No. 1 overall in the #NBADraft 🔥
RT if your favorite program made the list 📋 pic.twitter.com/C4gVidiG8i
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) June 25, 2024
The 2024 NBA draft gets underway on Wednesday evening.