Recent Duke Basketball One-And-Done Distributed in Houston

Not counting Atlanta Hawks co-owner Grant Hill, the franchise now has just three former Duke basketball players: head coach Quin Snyder, assistant Antonio Lang and promising forward Jalen Johnson.

As of Thursday 2021-22 Blue Devil One-time power forward and Final Four participant AJ Griffin is headed to the Houston Rockets, a young franchise suddenly on the rise after nearly matching his combined 2021-22 and 2022-23 win totals with his 41-41 season record last.

The Hawks sent Griffin, 20, who they drafted No. 16 overall in 2022 after shooting 44.7% from beyond the arc as a high-volume 3-point weapon last Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils group to the Rockets as part of a three-team trade.

Partly due to injuries, AJ Griffin played only 20 games for the 2023-24 Hawks, averaging 2.4 points in 8.6 minutes per game in what was Quin Snyder’s first full season orchestrating the show in Atlanta.

However, as a rookie in 2022-23, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound Griffin, a former five-star recruit from Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, New York, has fared considerably better in his 79 appearances. As one of the youngest talents in the league that year, he posted 8.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per outing.

He is now the only active NBA Blue Devil for the Houston Rockets.

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