WSU guard Cedric Coward has completed the rise of a lifetime and has found a new home in Memphis. The Grizzlies traded up five spots to draft the 6-foot-5 combo guard at No. 11 in the NBA Draft Wednesday night, giving up significant assets in the process.
Coward marks the highest Coug drafted since four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson was drafted at the same spot in 2011 to the Golden State Warriors. Coward is also just the third lottery pick in WSU history, with only Wazzu Hall-of-Famer Robert Bishop going higher in the 1948 draft.
The Portland Trailblazers originally selected Coward before swapping his draft rights for the 16th pick, a 2028 first-rounder via Orlando and two second round picks per ESPN’s Shams Charania. The Trailblazers preceded to pick Chinese center Yang Hansen with their new pick.
The picks included in the deal were supplied by the recent Memphis-Orlando trade that saw the Grizzlies trade starting guard Desmond Bane to the Magic in exchange for the picks that are now in the hands of Portland.
In Coward, Memphis is getting a guard who flashed high potential at times throughout his college career, averaging 17.7 points in his senior year at WSU and 15.4 in his junior year at Eastern Washington. Coward’s only year with the Cougs was cut short by a torn labrum suffered after his last game against EWU on Nov. 11. The Cougs went 5-1 with Coward before the team would proceed to finish 19-15 and miss the NCAA tournament.
Before transferring to WSU, Coward played two seasons at Eastern Washington where he won a Big Sky Conference title under current WSU head coach David Riley and started his career at Williamette University, a Division III school in Oregon’s capitol. Coward is now one of just three active former D-III players in the NBA, joining Freddie Gillespie and Duncan Robinson.
In the wake of his selection, Coward did not let the moment get to him and emphasized the impact of his journey.
“It’s not time to let the shoulders down,” Coward said in his post-draft interview, in front of a packed Barclays Center crowd. “It’s time to keep the foot on the gas, time to keep going. But for all the kids out there that are similar to me, hearing my story of where I am today, you can keep going if you believe in yourself. Have faith in the Lord, and just work to accomplish your dreams.”
The Fresno, Calif., native started low on draft boards, being projected as late as the end of the second round and undrafted in mock drafts throughout the college season. But from March on and early in the pre-draft process Coward began to creep up draft boards before seeing an explosion after an invite to the NBA Combine. At the combine, Coward delivered top performances across the board, measuring with excellent length, quickness and shot-making abilities among his position group.
Still, the majority of draft boards from NBA draft experts had Coward going in the mid-to-late teens as a borderline top 20 pick. Two weeks before the draft, projected him at No. 22 and then at No. 16 (ironically to Memphis), just hours before the draft. Now Coward finds himself solidified as a lottery pick.
In Memphis, Coward will join fellow Coug Jaylen Wells, who was drafted just a year ago after leading WSU to its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2008. Coward now provides immediate depth for the Grizzlies in the wake of the Bane trade, and could follow a similar path to playing time as Wells, who proceeded to finish third in Rookie of the Year voting last season.
The Grizzlies have solid depth at point guard with Scotty Pippen Jr. and the recently acquired Cole Anthony sitting behind star Ja Morant, but the two-guard and wing positions are ripe for opportunity for Coward. While Wells will hold down the starting small forward spot, only veterans Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Luke Kennard stand in the way of Coward, but both have been on shaky ground recently and could become expendable in favor of a player with more potential. Third-year guard Vince Williams Jr. emerged at the end of last season, but Coward’s fit with the team will likely push him higher up the depth chart.
After shooting 38.6% from three and averaging 6.2 rebounds in his college career, Coward fits perfectly on almost any NBA roster and will help to buffer the shooting lost from Bane’s departure. A long, well-built guard with versatility who can shoot, be active on the boards and has flashed three-level scoring potential gave him major draft appeal, and Memphis jumped at the chance to take that player after he reportedly worked out with the team on Monday.
Despite playing just six games in Pullman, Coward now sits as one of coach David Riley’s greatest successes (at both WSU and EWU) and one of the highest draft picks in Wazzu history. For now though, Coward remains focused on the basketball grind.
“[The next step] is to keep getting better, to take every day just the exact same as I have, keep embracing the process, embracing the journey and giving my all to the game of basketball,” Coward said.