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Former Wisconsin guard John Blackwell withdraws from NBA draft, will play at Duke next season

Former Wisconsin guard John Blackwell is withdrawing from the NBA draft and will play at Duke next season.

Blackwell announced his decision Friday on Instagram.

Blackwell averaged 19.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game last season, teaming with Nick Boyd to give Wisconsin one of the nation’s top backcourt tandems. The 6-foot-4 guard shot 39% from 3-point range, helping the Badgers go 24-11 and reach the NCAA Tournament for the third straight season.

Blackwell had some of his most productive performances against Wisconsin’s toughest opponents.

He scored 26 points in a road win over eventual national champion Michigan and averaged 27.5 points in the Badgers’ two victories over Final Four participant Illinois. He had 25 points in a late-season road win over Purdue, an NCAA regional finalist.

Blackwell had 22 points and 10 rebounds in Wisconsin’s NCAA Tournament first-round loss to High Point. He averaged 15.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in 2024-25.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

A trailblazing women’s class enters the Hall: 1996 US Olympic team, Parker, Delle Donne, Holdsclaw

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Dawn Staley and the 1996 Olympic women's basketball team paved the way for the WNBA and players such as Candace Parker, Elena Delle Donne and Chamique Holdsclaw. The team that started the Americans' 30-year Olympic dominance will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday along with Parker, Delle Donne and Holdsclaw They will be joined by NBA player Amar’e Stoudemire, longtime NBA official Joey Crawford, NBA coaches Doc Rivers and Mike D’Antoni and Gonzaga coach Mark Few in the Hall of Fame. “It's taken a long time for that particular team that set the stage for everything that's happened since,” Staley said. “There were players that came before us that didn't strike while the iron was hot. I thought we struck when the iron was hot and provided a way for us to see professional basketball come into existence after. Then for the last 30 years we've had it. ” Parker and Delle Donne were young, but remembered that Olympic team and its importance.
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