The 2024-25 college basketball season has officially kicked off, as the first week of games provided insight into what should be an eventful season headlined by one of the stronger freshmen classes in recent memory.
Cooper Flagg’s Kentucky matchup will show just how good he is right now
Duke is projected to make a run this coming March and the talent of Flagg is a huge reason why.
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Rohan Chakravarthi is the site manager at Bucky’s 5th Quarter, contributes to Niners Nation and covers high school recruiting for SBNation.com.
At the spotlight of it all is Duke Blue Devils five-star freshman Cooper Flagg, who has been pegged as the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft well before he stepped on campus.
And through two games, the electric 6’9” forward has done nothing to quiet the hype, putting together a pair of impressive all-around performances that showcase exactly the type of player Flagg is: a two-way star driven with a high motor and elite basketball IQ that coaches revere.
Flagg made headlines this year as he took on NBA stars as a part of the Team USA Select Team, drawing praise from stars like LeBron James, who hailed him as one of the next “big-time” players for Team USA down the road.
That hype has carried over to Duke, where Flagg is at the center of the team currently projected to win the NCAA Championship this season. Through the first two games for the Blue Devils, Flagg has averaged 15.5 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks as an all-around weapon, filling the stat sheet on both ends of the court.
Those numbers could’ve very well been higher had cramps not kept him out for much of the second half against Army on Friday, but his activity has been notable for a Blue Devils team that has averaged 98 points per game thus far through two games.
In the current state of college basketball, a number of high-profile coaches have looked to the transfer portal to supplant their rosters, coveting experience as they look to fill out their rosters.
Duke, on the other hand, had the No. 1 freshman class in the country, bringing in six freshmen to the fold, with Flagg, Khaman Maluach, Kon Knueppel, Isaiah Evans, Darren Harris, and Patrick Ngongba making up the class.
In going the freshmen route, Duke is relying on Flagg to be the staple piece, giving him the keys to the program as they’ve done with former stars Paolo Banchero and Zion Williamson.
Flagg’s recruitment started early, as head coach Jon Scheyer was heavily interested since initially watching him as a 15-year-old at Peach Jam, instantly getting hooked to the forward’s game.
“I remember the court, I remember where I was sitting,” Scheyer said, via ESPN’s Baxter Holmes. “And here’s this kid, blocking everything. Some of the plays he was making at 15, it just jumped off the page at you. His instincts. His athletic ability. His skills. He’s different from anybody I’ve ever recruited.”
When it comes to top recruits in years past, many have been ranked for their elite scoring abilities and athletic traits, which project them well as NBA prospects in the future.
Flagg has both the three-level scoring ability and a strong athletic profile, but it’s his team-first mentality and approach to winning that have many hooked, as his all-around game is unique in college basketball.
“Cooper doesn’t care about the media,” starting guard Tyrese Proctor said ahead of the season. “He’s just a straight competitor. Obviously, with all of the hype and stuff at 17, you’d think it would play with him a little bit, but it doesn’t faze him at all. He’s a winner and that’s all he cares about. He’s a team player and he can do everything.”
Flagg continues on his freshman season with his biggest test yet, as Duke takes on the Kentucky Wildcats in the State Farm Champions Classic on Tuesday in a battle between undefeated Blue Bloods with vastly different roster constructions.
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