Some years there’s a robust debate about the top pick in the NBA draft.
This isn’t one of those years. Zion Williamson didn’t go into his only college season as the presumptive top pick in the draft. That distinction belonged to his Duke teammate, classmate and roommate R.J. Barrett.
Barrett didn’t exactly play his way out of that top spot. But Williamson certainly played his way into it.
Barring an extinction-level event like an asteroid strike or an alien invasion, Williamson will become the fourth Duke player selected number one in the draft.
Art Heyman was the first pick in 1963 draft.