[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] hasn’t played a minute for Duke basketball yet, and he’s already receiving praise as one of the nation’s best players.
College basketball writer Andy Katz released his list of the top 16 wings in the country on Wednesday, and the nation’s top-ranked freshman took the very top spot.
Flagg’s hype train has been gaining steam since his first days of high school basketball, and he reclassified to the Class of 2024 and still earned the No. 1 spot in every major recruiting ranking. However, he made the leap into generational conversations as a senior. He led Montverde Academy to an undefeated season and a victory at Chipotle Nationals, and he attended Team USA Olympic training camp as a member of the Select Team, the only collegiate player in attendance.
Flagg went viral for his performance against the U.S. Olympic team in scrimmages, throwing down a dunk in one contest and scoring consecutive baskets in a dominant minute-long stretch in another. Scouts said he looked like the best player on the Select Team, and analysts said NBA teams should already be fighting over the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft in his honor.
https://twitter.com/MarchMadnessMBB/status/1833915673195724802
Flagg has said all offseason that he takes pride in his work on the defensive end, and that’ll be his better side of the ball from day one in Durham. At 6-foot-9 with guard quickness, he could average one steal and one block per game pretty comfortably.
The real threat to him reaching some rarified air as a prospect is how well he develops as a three-level scorer. After he already made some strides from 3-point range as a senior, he could potentially make more than 35% of his distance looks in 2024-25, and that combined with his athleticism would make him a force to be reckoned with.