AJ Griffin reacts to being drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in NBA Draft

On Thursday night, many former Duke Blue Devil basketball stars have already heard their names called in the 2022 NBA Draft. Their sharpshooter, A.J. Griffin was just selected a few moments ago with the No. 16 overall selection by the Atlanta Hawks. After he was picked, the former Blue Devil was speechless in speaking with ABC’s Monica McNutt. He talked about the emotions he was feeling in joining the best basketball league in the world.

“Man, a lot of emotions, man. It’s still surreal, you know. I’m just excited and just ready to get to work. Man, shoutout to the A-T-L! I’m ready,” Griffin said.

In joining the Atlanta Hawks, Griffin will join former Virginia Cavaliers’ star De’Andre Hunter.

Heading into the draft, the former Duke freshman was predicted to go well within the first round’s first 30 picks.

He averaged 10.4 points per game last season to help lead Duke to the Final Four in Mike Krzyzewski’s final season before retirement. Versus rival North Carolina in February, the 6-foot-7, 200-pound forward posted a career-high 27 points.

Griffin shot 49.3% from the field and 44% from three-point territory while adding 3.9 boards per game. He was one of five former Blue Devils stars to declare for the draft. Paolo Banchero, Mark Williams, Trevor Keels and Wendell Moore Jr. are also slated to go in the first 40 slots.

Coming out of high school in White Plains, New York, Griffin was a four-star recruit. He signed with Duke as the No. 23 player in the nation from the class of 2021, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

What the scouts are saying about AJ Griffin

“We haven’t really seen consistency from AJ Griffin this season after starting the year banged up, but we have seen some brilliant flashes — and the flashes are pretty great,” CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone wrote ahead of the 2022 NBA Draft. “In a draft that lacks star potential around this range, it’s easy to see how he could climb anywhere from No. 4 to No. 10. The wing is a bulldog defender with a big frame who is hitting nearly half of his 3s as a freshman at Duke. His emergence late in the season has shown he’s capable of creating and there’s still a lot of untapped potential in his game, too.”

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle also contributed to this article.