"No championship" "Crazy they didn't win it all": Fans react as Duke's entire starting lineup gets drafted at 2025 NBA Draft

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The news about the Duke's starting five picked in the 2025 NBA draft drew mixed reactions from fans on social media. On Thursday, the Charlotte Hornets selected forward Sion James as the third pick in the second round, while starting guard Tyrese Proctor was called 16 picks later by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Earlier, Duke's first three starters — Cooper Flagg (No. 1 overall), Kon Knueppel (No. 4) and Khaman Maluach (No. 10) — were called in the first round. The selection of five Blue Devils starters was the most for this year among NCAA schools, followed by Florida with three (Walter Clayton Jr, Alijah Martin and Will Richard.

Fans aired their reaction on the social media site X, with some users emphasizing the outcome of the 2024-25 campaign, particularly the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

"No championship lolllll," one fan wrote. "Crazy they didn’t win it all," another user added.

Crazy they didn’t win it all

An X account dedicated to the 2025 national champions, Florida Gators, also chimed in, tweeting:

Must’ve won a championship with that team

Other fans added fuel to the fire, emphasizing the Blue Devils team that failed to beat Houston in the Final Four.

Here come the “surely they won the national championship” comments

their national title will live forever in people's minds.

The 2024-25 Duke Blue Devils finished the season with a 35-4 record, winning the ACC regular season and tournament titles and fell one game short of the national finals, losing to Houston in the Final Four.

Cooper Flagg went on to win the National Player of the Year award and first-team All-American awards, cementing his status as the No. 1 player in the just-concluded draft.


2024-25 Duke starters join elite group after NBA draft accomplishment

The starting five of the 2024-25 Duke Blue Devils team has joined an elite group of teams that have had their starters picked in previous NBA drafts.

According to college basketball analyst Seth Davis, the starting five of coach Jon Scheyer was the third team to achieve such a feat, joining the 2006 UConn squad and the 2012 national champions, the Kentucky Wildcats.

The 2006 UConn squad had Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone and Denham Brown as its starters. Gay, Armstrong Williams and Boone were picked in the first round while Brown ended up in the second round.

Meanwhile, the 2012 Kentucky Wildcats were made up of Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones and Anthony Davis.

Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist were picked first and second overall in the 2012 draft, while Jones and Teague were selected 18th and 29th overall, respectively, in the first round. Lamb, meanwhile, was taken 12th in the second round and 42nd pick overall.

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About the author

Geoff

Geoffrey Latayan is a journalist who covers college basketball at Sportskeeda. An AB Communication graduate from De La Salle Lipa, he is an avid sports fan who follows college basketball, MLB, NBA and pro wrestling.

As a writer, he's adept at stats and previously covered college sports in the Philippines. Geoff has interviewed former NBA star Detlef Schrempf, although it was way before the "sportsblog" era.

Geoff believes the gap between College sports and major leagues has narrowed thanks to the new stars of the sport, who can give the pro leagues a run for their money.

His favorite college players of all time are Michael Jordan and Allan Iverson. In fact, the Jordan admiration extended to North Carolina becoming his favorite college team as well. Geoff rates Carmelo Anthony winning the national title for Syracuse as his favorite College Sports moment and he is also a die-hard Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia 76ers fan.

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