How do Cooper Flagg’s first 12 games compare to Duke legend Zion Williamson?

Duke basketball fans were promised a historic player in Cooper Flagg. So how does he stack up against the most famous Blue Devils freshman?

When the Cameron Crazies prepared for [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag]’s arrival in Durham, the star forward brought the promise of history with him. After an undefeated senior season at Montverde Academy and some scrimmage highlights at Team USA Olympic training camp, everyone in the sport insisted he wasn’t just the best prospect in the country. He was the best prospect the sport had seen in years.

One frequent name Flagg drew comparisons to was [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag], who spent one year with the Blue Devils in 2018-19. Another two-way star with highlight-reel dunks in high school, Williamson averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals, 2.1 assists, and 1.8 blocks en route to an Elite Eight appearance.

While Williamson didn’t win Duke’s sixth national title, he did win Player of the Year honors from every major outlet before getting drafted with the first overall pick. Yes, Flagg would surely tell everyone he’d prefer to cut down the nets, but that would be an incredibly successful outcome for the 18-year-old.

But for now, we only have Flagg’s first 12 games to measure. So how do they compare to Williamson’s?

For starters, Williamson was a much more efficient scorer. The older Duke star averaged 19.8 points to Flagg’s 16.3 despite playing four fewer minutes per game thanks to a 65.2% field goal percentage. While Flagg’s been a (slightly) more accurate shooter from behind the arc, he’s also taken 26 more 3-pointers than Williamson did to this point.

However, Flagg looks like a much more advanced facilitator. Even with Williamson playing alongside RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish, two other top-five players from the Class of 2018, Flagg is averaging a full assist per game more than his predecessor.

Here’s a complete breakdown of the two stars through 12 games.

Player Minutes Points Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals FG% 3PT%
Williamson 26.2 19.8 9.4 2.3 1.9 2.1 65.2% (92/141) 16.7% (3/18)
Flagg 30.8 16.3 8.6 3.5 1.3 1.5 42.1% (69/164) 25.0% (11/44)