Duke basketball’s esteemed 2024 recruiting class earned another award on Thursday when the Blue Devils finished atop the final ESPN men’s basketball rankings.
[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the star commit and the presumed top pick in the 2025 NBA draft, led the way as the top overall player in the class. He also finished as the best overall player in both the On3 recruiting rankings and the final 247Sports rankings.
“On his own, Flagg would be enough to give Duke a shot at the top class,” ESPN’s Jeff Borzello wrote.
However, the Blue Devils also added five other freshmen as Jon Scheyer rebuilds his 2024-25 roster. All of Duke’s five signees in the rankings finished inside the top 30 in ESPN’s individual player ratings.
Rutgers, Alabama, and Baylor followed in succession to continue out the rankings. The next-best team in the ACC, North Carolina, finished fifth, and the Miami Hurricanes finished ninth. Notre Dame (19th) and Syracuse (22nd) also appeared in the top 25.
The FINAL 2024 men’s basketball recruiting class rankings per @espn 🏀 pic.twitter.com/b71jy4dqrp
— SportsCenter NEXT (@SCNext) June 13, 2024
The freshman, combined with transfers like Tulane’s Sion James, Syracuse’s Maliq Brown, and Purdue’s Mason Gillis, make the Blue Devils one of the most popular preseason title favorites for the 2024-25 season.