“Both probably had great seasons. National champions”: Fans mock Duke and Rutgers despite Cooper Flagg, Ace Bailey and more shining at the NBA draft

The Duke Blue Devils and Rutgers Scarlet Knights dominated the first round of the 2025 NBA draft on Wednesday. Three players from Duke (Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach) and two players from Rutgers (Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey) were selected in the top 10.

This is an impressive achievement and not something that happens every year. As a result, the CBS Sports Instagram account took note of it, making a post.

While there is no doubt that this is impressive, that did not stop fans from mocking Blue Devils and Scarlet Knights fans. Many pointed out in the comments that both teams had disappointing years despite the success of their players.

"Damn, they both probably had great seasons. National champions," one fan wrote. "Surely Rutgers made a deep tournament run," one fan commented. "I laugh when duke gets all that hate for losing when rutgers didn’t even make the tournament lol," one fan added.

Fans continued to react in the comments.

"OMG, Rutgers def went beast mode and made a serious deep dive in the tourney!" one fan wrote. "Rutgers won 15 games with two of the top 5 picks. I love that Ace Bailey got exiled to Utah," one fan commented. "Those kids couldn’t even get Rutgers into the tournament????? Massive red flag," one fan added.

Images via the comments of the Instagram post.

Both Duke and Rutgers had disappointing 2024-25 seasons, given the talent on their rosters

Duke and Rutgers did not have seasons of equal quality. The Duke Blue Devils reached the Final Four of March Madness before they were eliminated. Conversely, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights did not even qualify for the tournament. Regardless, it was a disappointing season for both teams.

Many college basketball analysts had the Blue Devils as the favorites to win March Madness. So, it was a disappointment for the team when they were defeated by the Houston Cougars in the Final Four.

As for Rutgers, while they did not have as deep a team as the Blue Devils, they had two of the biggest stars in the NCAA in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey. As a result, it was hugely disappointing for them not to qualify for March Madness.

Regardless, all five players are moving on to the next stage of their basketball careers. Next season, all five players will be trying to establish themselves as starters or even stars in the NBA.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly