Cedric Coward, at left with his family on WSU Senior Day, and at right in action this past season. (Photo: WSU Athletics)
CEDRIC COWARD, the personable wing from Fresno who missed most of this past season with injury after transferring to Washington State from EWU, is staying in the upcoming NBA rather than transferring to Duke, he told ESPN today. The news might not come as a surprise given how he's skyrocketed up draft boards in workouts at the NBA Combine and elsewhere this spring.
"This is the best opportunity for me to achieve part of my dream, which is making the NBA," Coward told Jonathan Giovny of ESPN. "Everything is pointing in the right direction right now to follow that."
Coward was widely thought to be a mid- to low second-round pick if he stayed in this year's draft but his recent work looks to have landed him squarely in the first round.
Coward will bring to five the number of Cougars in the NBA, joining Klay Thompson (Dallas), Mouhamed Gueye (Atlanta), Jaylen Wells (Memphis) and Issac Jones (Sacramento). Wells was just named to the NBA All-Rookie first team. (Related: Jaylen Wells, humble as ever following NBA star turn, goes one-on-one with CF.C)
Coward only played six games for the Cougs this past after partially tearing a shoulder and earned a medical redshirt in the process.
"NBA teams learned that the injury wasn't a setback," Coward said told ESPN. "I got better and became more profound in all the different details of my game." Click here to read Givony's full story.
Coward averaged 17.7 points, 7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in his limited action with the Cougars. He chose WSU over offers from Arizona, Oregon, Texas Tech and others. He entered the portal again this offseason and announced he would be headed to Duke if he withdrew his name from the NBA draft.
His NIL package at Duke is widely thought to have been north of $3 million. A low first-round NBA draft pick would make about $2.5 million as a rookie while a mid-round pick would make about $4 million and picks 1 though 10 between $5.5 million and $12.6 million.
COWARD'S RISE TO FIRST-ROUND draft prospect is an unconventional tale and testament to Cougar coach David Riley's development skills. Coward played at Division III Willamette as a freshman in 2021-22 and was recruited to EWU by Riley, where he developed nicely as a sophomore and then emerged as a force in the Big Sky Conference in 2023-24.
The Cedric Coward Story: Fly fishing, Olympic gold and the power of family
NOTABLE: Coward went through spring workouts with NBA scouts a year ago before withdrawing his name from the draft. Asked what scouts told him he needed to work on over the coming year, Coward said:
"Upping the defensive intensity, becoming a better defensive player. I think I'm a really good defensive player when I want to be. And that's one of the, I don't want to say issues, but doing both ends of the floor at all times.
"And the handle. You've got to be able to dribble the ball in the NBA … you want to be prepared for any situation. My role in the NBA can be three-and-D, but at the end of the day if I get the ball in my hands, I can't be like, okay, 'I don't know what to do with it.' It was very beneficial to hear stuff.
"My number one goal is to make the NBA, take care of my family, take care of myself, and I just thank God that I'm in a position to do so … when I came back to school, made this decision to come to Pullman, I knew what I needed to do. And now let's tie that in with some wins and the WCC championship and it'll be the icing on the cake right there."