Kon Knueppel II, the Wisconsin Lutheran High School alumnus who helped transform the Charlotte Hornets into a playoff contender, narrowly took second place in the NBA Rookie of the Year voting, finishing behind his college roommate, Cooper Flagg.

Knueppel finished with 44 first-place votes among the 100 voters and 55 second-place votes, with only one voter giving a second-place vote to VJ Edgecombe of Philadelphia (Knueppel received the third-place vote). His 386 points were just shy of the 412 racked up by Flagg, Knueppel's teammate at Duke and the No. 1 overall pick by the Dallas Mavericks last year.

It's the second-closest vote under the current voting format that began in 2002-03.

The 20-year-old Knueppel finished the year with 18.5 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and a 42.5% mark from beyond the arc, with a league-leading 273 triples setting a new NBA rookie record. Knueppel's Hornets finished 44-38, missing the playoffs in the play-in game after a loss to Orlando.

Charlotte finished 19-63 last year before the franchise made Knueppel the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NBA draft and also hired former Bucks assistant Charles Lee as head coach.

Flagg's Mavericks finished 26-56, but a man who was long seen as the expected No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft delivered with a strong rookie season. He scored 21 points per game with 6.7 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 46.8% shooting from the field (despite just 29.5% from three). Flagg won't turn 20 until December.

Knueppel, who led Wisconsin Lutheran to a state championship and undefeated season just two years ago, paid a visit to Pat Murphy and the Milwaukee Brewers when the team was in Boston earlier this year, one night before playing the host Celtics.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kon Knueppel narrowly takes second in NBA Rookie of the Year vote