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.
We are STILL the only school with back-to-back No. 1 overall NBA Draft picks.#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/KS5wgu3D5s
— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) June 26, 2025
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.
More NBA Draft on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Duquesne Basketball Touts Shocking Place in NBA Draft History After First Round.
