Memphis Grizzlies got a grinder in Cedric Coward #nba #nbadraft #2026nbadraft #grizzlie

Memphis Grizzlies got a grinder in Cedric Coward #nba #nbadraft #2026nbadraft #grizzlie

you need to know about this story from the 2026 NBA draft washington State’s Cedric Coward was the 11th overall pick in this draft he was eventually traded to the Memphis Grizzlies where he’ll play his first season but his path to getting here is the greatest out of any player that we have seen in this class before he became a lottery pick he was originally a division three basketball player at William University in Oregon coming out of high school he chose to go and play division three basketball because he believed he didn’t put in the work at the time worthy of him being a division one basketball player after he locked in as a freshman he averaged 19.4 points per game and 12 rebounds and was named the Northwest Conference Freshman of the Year that prompted his ability to transfer to Eastern Washington and dominate in the Big Sky by his junior year scouts were flooding to Eastern Washington games to see him average 15.4 points per game on 56% shooting boward then transferred to Washington State but sadly his opportunity to shine on a bigger stage ended up falling short as he only played six games that year after a season ending shoulder injury once the transfer portal opened in 2025 Coward transferred to Duke but decided he didn’t want to play for the Blue Devils and instead entered the NBA draft and the rest is history his massive rise to becoming a lottery pick happened from one small school to now being a Memphis Grizzly