Cedric Coward has gone cold-blooded. The former star Cougar wing traded in the crimson and gray to play for the Duke Blue Devils, Coward announced Monday on Instagram.
“I think Blue is my color,” Coward said in his post. “Thank you to Coach Scheyer and the entire staff for believing in me. I truly believe God has led me to Duke, just as He has led Duke to me.”
In addition to his commitment to the Blue Devils, Coward announced he would continue to test the professional waters and keep his name in the NBA Draft. Coward said there is no timetable on when his next decision will come, but will wait and see as his team gains more information in the draft process.
The window to enter the college basketball transfer portal closed on April 22 and the NBA Draft will take place on June 25.
Coward, the 13th best transfer in the portal according to 247 sports, is the first 2025 transfer addition for head coach Jon Scheyer, and it will likely be an impactful add.
The 6-foot-6, 206-pound small forward had narrowed down his list of options to Duke and Alabama out of a list that also included Florida, Kansas and Washington just two weeks ago. Coward said he chose Duke because of the fit and Scheyer and the Duke staff made him feel at home.
“They made it feel like it was the place where not only I was needed, but in a way I gravitated towards it,” Coward said. “I was the best fit not only basketball-wise but also for the culture and who I am as a person. They value a lot of the same things I value in terms of just people and especially on the basketball court. The connection I built with them, even though I knew them for a short time and I’m continuing to know them, it feels like I’ve known them forever.”
Coward averaged 17.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 40% shooting from three in six games in his first season with the Cougs before suffering a torn labrum that required season-ending surgery. Coward matched a career high by scoring 30 points against Northern Colorado on Nov. 18 and was the team’s leading scorer before his injury.
Coward transferred to WSU after spending two years in Cheney at nearby Eastern Washington where he grew into a promising young star, averaging 15.4 points and earning All-Big Sky First Team honors in his junior year. Coward followed former Eagles and current WSU head coach David Riley from Cheney to Pullman along with fellow teammates LeJuan Watts, Ethan Price and Dane Erikstrup in 2024.
The Fresno, Calif., native began his career playing Division III basketball at Williamette University where he averaged 19.4 points and 12 rebounds as a freshman. Coward said he “just wasn’t that good” to play at Duke earlier in his career but his D-III experience helped to put him in the position he is today.
“I thank my coaches at D-III,” Coward said. “Because that experience really helped me grow not only as a man but as a basketball player as well, absolutely consuming myself with the game and realizing to the level I wanted to get to, I had to get better and I had to put in more work.”
The Blue Devils get a massive upgrade in the starting lineup with Coward, as former Duke stars Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, Tyrese Proctor, and Khaman Maluach all declared for the NBA draft. Duke lost its entire starting lineup in the offseason, leaving a massive hole for Coward to fill.
Coward joins notable returners Isaiah Evans and Caleb Foster as likely starters and a top-ranked recruiting class that includes the five-star twins, forward Cameron Boozer (N0. 3 on ESPN 100) and guard Cayden Boozer (No. 16), and forward Nikolas Khamenia. The Boozer twins are the sons of former NBA veteran Carlos Boozer.
Duke’s newest addition has already familiarized himself with his new team and touted the team’s talent despite losing the consensus No. 1 pick in Flagg and four other starters from a team that reached the Final Four in 2025.
“As much as you want to push the narrative like you have the one star and then the four guys around them that help, this a team full of stars,” Coward said. “It’s a team full of guys that are killers and just want to do whatever it is that you know can help us win whether it’s play defense, whether it’s score four points or 40.”
As lengthy guard with excellent catch-and-shoot ability and the natural traits of a three-level scoring wing, Coward should slide right in alongside Duke’s bevy of young talent. Coward said his biggest strength is verstality, but he knows what he wants to do is win.
“With the school I just committed to, I know what the expectation is and I don’t expect anything less from us as a team or me as a player,” Coward said. “…And just to be able to showcase my skillset of being so versatile that you can tell me to do anything, I’m going to get it done.”
