Duke basketball captain ties program history with draft selection

Duke basketball captain Wendell Moore (David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)
Duke basketball captain Wendell Moore (David Banks-USA TODAY Sports)

Duke basketball captain Wendell Moore has tied program history in the NBA Draft. 

Wendell Moore became the fourth Duke basketball player to be selected in the first round of 2022 NBA Draft, tying a program record.

The Blue Devils had four first round picks in each of the 1986, 1999, 2017 and 2018 drafts.

Paolo Banchero was the first overall selection by the Orlando Magic while Mark Williams and AJ Griffin went back-to-back at No. 15 and No. 16 overall to the Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks, respectively.

Moore was selected at No. 26 by the Dallas Mavericks, however the pick belonged to the Houston Rockets due to the Christian Wood trade earlier in the week.

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The Rockets then traded the pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Duke captain will be taking his talents to the Twin Cities.

Boban Marjanovic, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss, and Sterling Brown were all dealt to Houston in the three-team deal.

Minnesota traded the No. 29 pick and two future second-round picks to the Rockets in exchange for the draft rights to Wendell Moore.

Wendell Moore did it all in his junior season with the Blue Devil as he won the Julius Erving Award, given to the best small forward in the country, as well as being named to the Second Team All-ACC and ACC All-Defensive Team.

The Charlotte, North Carolina native averaged 13.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game while shooting 50.0-percent from the floor and a very impressive 41.3-percent from 3-point territory.

Duke basketball unlikely to tie NBA Draft history

The most first round picks that a school has produced in the same draft was the 2010 Kentucky Wildcats with five selections.

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Duke still has one draft eligible player left on the board in freshman guard Trevor Keels, who was torn between returning to Duke or remaining in the draft.

Keels waited until the last day to declare for the 2022 NBA Draft and nearly waited until the last hour to announce he was keeping his name in the draft and forgoing the rest of his eligibility with the Blue Devils.