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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (TheACC.com) – Four Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball players were selected Wednesday evening in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft, which was held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The second round of the 2025 NBA Draft will be conducted on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Duke freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg was the No. 1 overall selection, going to the Dallas Mavericks. The 2025 ACC Player and Rookie of the Year, Flagg was the consensus National Player of the Year. He is the 13th ACC player to be selected No. 1 overall in the NBA Draft and the first and the third in the last seven years, joining Duke’s Zion Williamson (2019) and Paolo Banchero (2022). The ACC boasts the most No. 1 picks of any conference, and Flagg is the sixth Duke player to be chosen No. 1 overall.
With Flagg going as the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft and Miami’s Cam Ward being selected as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, this marks the first time the ACC has had the top NFL and NBA draft picks in the same season, and it is just the sixth occurrence in any conference:
2025: Cooper Flagg and Cam Ward from the ACC
2020: Anthony Edwards and Joe Burrow from the SEC
2005: Andrew Bogut and Alex Smith from the Mountain West
1994: Glenn Robinson and Dan Wilkinson from the Big Ten
1979: Magic Johnson and Tom Cousineau from the Big Ten
1969: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and OJ Simpson from Pac-8
Duke’s Kon Knueppel was selected No. 4 overall by the Charlotte Hornets. The Blue Devils’ Khaman Maluach was chosen No. 10 overall by the Phoenix Suns via a proposed trade with the Houston Rockets. This marks the 17th straight year in which the ACC had a lottery selection. The ACC has had 39 lottery selections in that 17-year span (most of any conference).
North Carolina’s Drake Powell was taken No. 22 overall by the Brooklyn Nets via a proposed trade with the Atlanta Hawks.
The ACC extended its streak with at least one first-round selection to 37 consecutive years, dating back to the 1989 draft. This marks the 17th straight year in which the ACC finished with at least two first-round picks. The ACC is the only conference with multiple selections in every draft over the last 17 years (since 2009) and has totaled 92 draft picks in the span, most of any conference.
ACC in the 2025 NBA Draft:
Round/Selection, Player, NBA Team
1/1, Cooper Flagg (Duke), Dallas Mavericks
1/4 Kon Knueppel (Duke), Charlotte Hornets
1/10, Khaman Maluach (Duke), Houston Rockets (proposed trade to Phoenix)
1/22, Drake Powell (North Carolina), Atlanta Hawks (proposed trade to Brooklyn)