The Duke basketball run in this year's NCAA Tournament has come to an end with the Blue Devils losing on a shocking last-second three-pointer against UConn. The collapse was the latest in a string of shocking losses for Duke in the NCAA Tournament. Still, the Blue Devils have a legendary history, and the latest example is Kon Knueppel, who is playing in the NBA as a rookie.
Kneuppel was on the latest episode of Richard Jefferson's show, “The Richard Show,” and was playing “start, bench, and cut with former Duke legends, and after initially cutting Grant Hill, he reversed course and ended up starting Hill and cutting Christian Laettner. The move was in large part due to Hill's role as head of USA Basketball.
“Actually, I have met Grant Hill, screw that. I haven’t met Christian Laettner. Start Grant Hill, bench Jay Williams, cut Christian Laettner,” Knueppel said, changing his mind.
Kon Knueppel is dominating the NBA in his first season out of Duke. He is averaging 18.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists with the Hornets. He is also averaging 43.3% from behind the three-point line and 48.4% from the field overall. He is one of the big contenders for winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award, with his next biggest competition coming from his former Duke teammate Cooper Flagg.
The 2025 Duke basketball team was seen as a potentially all-time great team if they kept winning. However, after getting to the Final Four, they collapsed against the Houston Cougars. Duke led by double digits for most of the second half, by nine points with two minutes left, by six with 35 seconds left, and still lost. It was nearly impossible to lose that game, but Duke found a way despite being the favorite to win it all.
Knueppel has a long way to go in the NBA, and while his time at Duke was brief, he will forever be a part of that alum base and will need to maintain those relationships with Grant Hill to get on the USA Basketball team.
