FRESNO, Calif. (KMJ/KFSN) — Fresno native Cedric Coward was selected 11th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers during Wednesday night’s NBA Draft.
That pick was traded to Memphis, meaning the former Central Grizzly will start his NBA career with the Grizzlies.
“This is the moment I dreamed of since I was, I don’t even remember years old, and to be able to experience this and experience it, not only with, you know, my family, but also like people that I really care about and the great guys in this draft class, is amazing,” Coward said after his selection.
Coward’s journey to a first-round draft pick is one of the most unlikely stories in NBA history.
He didn’t play on the varsity team at Central East until his junior season. In 2020, he averaged 17 points per game, and his Grizzlies came a basket away from winning the D-I title, falling 85-83 to Bullard in the COVID-shortened season. He was Central’s Athlete of the Year in 2021 and a two-time National High School Scholar.
Coward started his college career at Willamette University, a small Division-III school in Salem, Oregon known more for its academics than its athletes. It was there that the Fresno native averaged 19 points and 12 rebounds a game.
That was good enough to be named Northwest Conference Freshman of the year, where he was a first-team All-NMC selection.
From Western Oregon, Coward moved to Eastern Washington, where he was a unanimous first-team All-Big Sky selection, averaging 15 points in his junior year.
Coward transferred again, following his head coach, David Riley, to Washington State.
Primed for a breakout senior season, he averaged 17 points and 7 rebounds a game before a season-ending shoulder injury just 6 games into the season.
Following a heavy recruitment, he committed to Duke University as something of an insurance policy if the NBA Draft didn’t work out.
Instead, Coward is heading to the league and is the 3rd first-round draft pick from Fresno in the last five years, following AJ Johnson in 2024 (23rd overall to the Bucks) and Jalen Green in 2021 (2nd overall to the Rockets).
“For all the kids out there that are similar to me, hitting my story of where I am today, you can keep going if you believe in yourself, have faith in the lord, and work to accomplish your dreams,” explained Coward.Central Unified School District has now produced a first-round pick in back-to-back years in both the NFL (Xavier Worthy) and in the NBA (Coward).
Coward’s grandfather on his mother’s side is Maxie Parks, a Washington Union graduate who won an Olympic gold medal in the 4×400 relay at the 1976 Montreal Games.
