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Duquesne Basketball Touts Shocking Place in NBA Draft History After First Round

The Dukes—not Duke—are the only team to have back-to-back No. 1 overall picks.
Michael Kadlick|
Duquesne holds a shocking spot in NBA draft history.
Duquesne holds a shocking spot in NBA draft history. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

When you think of Division I college basketball and the players it develops into NBA stars, you likely think of the Blue Bloods: Kentucky, Duke, Kansas—to name a few.

However, as they touted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday night, none other than the Atlantic-10's Duquesne University still holds one of the longest-running records in NBA draft history.

With the selection of Duke's Cooper Flagg by the Dallas Mavericks, Duquesne remains the only school to ever have back-to-back No. 1 overall NBA draft picks. It's a 69-year-and-counting feat since the selections of Dick Ricketts and Sihugo Green in 1955 and '56.

Pretty wild, especially considering the oodles of talent that come from the likes of those top teams. For further context, Duquesne hasn't had a player selected in the NBA draft since 1994. The Duke Blue Devils had three players taken in Wednesday's first round alone.

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Mike Kadlick
MICHAEL KADLICK

Mike Kadlick is an NFL writer for Sports Illustrated. He’s also a New England Patriots reporter for CLNS Media, where he hosts the Patriots Daily podcast and covers the beat from Gillette Stadium. Before joining SI, Kadlick worked at WEEI sports radio in Boston. He holds a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University. When Kadlick’s not covering football, he can be found running, spending time with his wife and dog, and enjoying all things pizza.

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