Tag: Cooper Flagg

When and how to watch Cooper Flagg, other Duke commits at the Jordan Brand Classic

Cooper Flagg and four other fellow Duke signees lace up their shoes for Sunday’s Jordan Brand Classic. Check out when and where you can watch here.

Duke fans can get another sneak peek of the 2024-25 Duke men’s basketball team on Sunday night.

All five U.S.-based Blue Devils signees for the incoming Class of 2024, including top-ranked prospect Cooper Flagg, are on the roster for the Jordan Brand Classic. The exhibition pits some of the best high school basketball players in the country against each other.

Flagg, Isaiah Evans, Kon Knueppel, Darren Harris, and Patrick Ngongba will all be at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the game. The boy’s game tips off at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday evening, and fans can watch either through the NBA app or on the NBA YouTube channel.

Flagg already impressed scouts and fans alike at a similar showcase, the Nike Hoop Summit, last week. He put up a 19-point double-double to help Team USA to a comfortable victory.

Based on reactions to Saturday’s practice sessions, Duke fans can expect a similar performance this weekend.

The Athletic reporter shares lengthy social media thread defending Duke’s transfer portal turnover

While some Duke fans voiced issues with the amount of roster turnover for the 2024-25 season, The Athletic’s Brendan Marks voiced his thoughts on Jon Scheyer’s team-building.

The volume of players in the transfer portal can often set off red flags for college sports fans, indicating either locker room problems or a culture issue.

However, despite having seven players leaving for other programs this offseason, the Blue Devils men’s basketball team is in a unique position. Head coach Jon Scheyer is welcoming six top recruits in this coming freshman class, including consensus No. 1 prospect Cooper Flagg and projected lottery pick Khaman Maluach.

The mass exodus has still incited some ire and panic from Duke fans, however, and The Athletic’s Brendan Marks released a lengthy thread addressing his take on the situation.

While fans in his mentions said they wanted to see players stay in place and grow over the course of a few years, Marks said he doesn’t think that’s the reality of college basketball anymore.

“That isn’t a uniquely Duke issue,” Marks wrote. “Every fan base in CBB has the same complaint. Lower-level programs hate seeing their guys up-transfer.”

“It’s unfortunate, but ‘lifers’ don’t really exist anymore,” he added in a following post.

Marks added that UNC fans had similar issues with the transfers of Harrison Ingram and Cormac Ryan this season, and it resulted in an ACC regular-season title.

The reporter concluded that the five open spots on Duke’s roster will allow Scheyer to build a team specifically around Flagg, and that year-to-year turnover matters less than what product the second-year head coach provides from it.

Duke takes top overall seed in Joe Lunardi’s early 2025 bracketology

With Cooper Flagg leading the top recruiting class in the country, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi thinks the 2025 NCAA Tournament runs through Duke.

The 2023-24 basketball season is still fresh in everyone’s memory, but it’s never too early to gaze toward the 2024-25 campaign.

ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi certainly agrees as he released an early look at the projected 2025 NCAA Tournament field on Tuesday, and he slotted Duke in as his top overall seed.

Fresh off a run to the Elite Eight last season and an ACC Tournament title two years ago, head coach Jon Scheyer welcomes No. 1 overall recruit Cooper Flagg, projected lottery pick Khaman Maluach, and two other five-star prospects in an esteemed freshman class.

Combine the new pedigree with Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster, two 2023-24 starters, already announcing their return, and it’s easy to see why so many experts think the team to beat next season plays in Durham.

The incredibly early bracket has Scheyer’s team atop the East region and playing the winner of Norfolk State and Central Connecticut from the First Four games.

Baylor, Connecticut, and Texas rounded out the top four seeds in Duke’s corner of the bracket. Kansas, Alabama, and Houston claimed the other three No. 1 seeds.

Will March Madness run through the Blue Devils next season? Duke fans will have to wait until the fall to get its first indications.

Andy Katz puts Duke second in way-too-early power rankings for next season

Andy Katz released his way-too-early Power 36 rankings for the 2024-2025 season, and the Duke Blue Devils ranked No. 2 overall.

Andy Katz released his way-too-early Power 36 rankings for the 2024-2025 season, and the Duke Blue Devils ranked No. 2 overall.

Duke came in one spot behind the Houston Cougars, whom the Blue Devils defeated in the Sweet 16 this past NCAA Tournament.

Duke boasts the No. 1 recruiting class for next season. Cooper Flagg, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2024, will likely be the face of the Blue Devils next season. Duke’s recruiting class features three other five-star recruits alongside Flagg, including South Sudanese center Khaman Maluach and North Carolina Mr. Basketball Isaiah Evans.

Katz is one of the rare few with someone other than the Blue Devils atop his projected rankings. Duke came in first in the early 2024-25 rankings from USA TODAY Sports, The Athletic, and ESPN.

The team’s roster turnover is still ongoing. As of now, forward Mark Mitchell and center Christian Reeves have entered the transfer portal.

Guard Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski are both getting NBA Draft lottery projections but have yet to announce whether they’ll return to Duke for another season.

Duke opens as favorites to win 2025 men’s basketball national title, per Fanduel odds

The Blue Devils have the best chance to cut down the nets in 12 months, according to Fanduel’s newly released odds for 2025.

According to Fanduel Sportsbook, no one has a better chance to cut down the nets in 12 months than the Blue Devils.

The Duke men’s basketball team opened as the site’s favorite to win the 2024-25 national title. Head coach Jon Scheyer’s team opened at +1100 to win it all, bolstered by five-star recruits like Cooper Flagg and Khaman Maluach.

“The incoming freshmen should mesh well with Blue Devil holdovers Sean Stewart (57.1 FG%) and Caleb Foster (7.7 PPG),” Fanduel’s Gabriel Santiago wrote in an article about the opening odds. “In all, FanDuel Sportsbook is expecting Duke to make a serious run next season.”

[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″]

The Kansas Jayhawks have the second-lowest odds at +1200, followed by now two-time defending champion Connecticut at +1300. The Alabama Crimson Tide, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Houston Cougars are all +1500, the only other teams lower than +2000.

Team Odds
Duke Blue Devils +1100
Kansas Jayhawks +1200
UConn Huskies +1300
Alabama Crimson Tide +1500
North Carolina Tar Heels +1500
Houston Cougars +1500
Arizona Wildcats +2000
Gonzaga Bulldogs +2500
Baylor Bears +3000
Kentucky Wildcats +3000

[gambcom-standard rankid=”5″]

Get more betting analysis and predictions at Sportsbook Wire

ESPN lists Duke as the No. 1 team in their Way-Too-Early Top 25

Duke the top team in the country in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top 25.

Less than 48 hours after Dan Hurley’s Connecticut Huskies completed one of the rare college basketball feats of repeating as national champions, the page has already turned to 2024-25 for the rest of the college basketball world.

ESPN made sure to get its Way-Too-Early Top 25 up late on Monday night, and the number one team in those rankings resides in Durham, NC.

Duke bowed out of the NCAA Tournament this season in the Elite Eight to an NC State team that spent the last 12 games playing incredibly inspired basketball. Duke led in the first half, but State overwhelmed Duke with incredible shotmaking and suffocating defense in the second half to send the Blue Devils home.

Duke is now in the process of reflecting and retooling for next year. There’s a renewed energy around the program as Scheyer will welcome the nation’s top recruiting class, highlighted by one of the most heralded number one high school basketball players since LeBron James, forward Cooper Flagg.

ESPN staff writer Jeff Borzello, who put the rankings together, said this about his decision to put the Blue Devils at the top spot.

“Duke entered this past season as a national title contender, but never quite seemed to put it all together for an extended stretch and ultimately fell in the Elite Eight. Jon Scheyer will have two of the best NBA prospects in the country next season, in No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg and projected top-five NBA draft pick Khaman Maluach, but the Blue Devils could have point guard issues if Jeremy Roach decides not to take advantage of his fifth option year.”

Borzello also published a projected starting five that featured Flagg, Tyrese Proctor, Caleb Foster, Mark Mitchell, and Maluach. The issue is that Mitchell announced his intent to enter the transfer portal on Tuesday afternoon, so he will not be on the 2024-25 version of the Duke Blue Devils. Duke will likely opt to find a shooter to help space the floor with Flagg and also give those minutes vacated by Mitchell to rising sophomore Sean Stewart should he opt to return.

Tyrese Proctor has not announced whether he plans to enter the portal, opt for professional opportunities, or return to Duke. If we assume Proctor returns, he’s likely a captain and must leap like Wendell Moore. There’s a lot of talent there, but it needs to become consistent. A decision from Jeremy Roach also remains up in the air, and having a fifth-year senior could be massive.

All that aside, Duke plans to utilize the transfer portal, too, so Duke’s roster construction for next year is far from done, with more names expected on their way out, i.e., Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain, expected to be drafted in the first round.

Duke sits atop USA TODAY Sports’ early 2024-25 men’s college basketball rankings

USA TODAY Sports released its early rankings for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season on Tuesday morning, and guess who sat atop the list?

The Blue Devils might be the consensus top team in men’s basketball next season.

USA TODAY Sports writers Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, and Eddie Timanus released their early projected rankings for the 2024-25 season on Monday morning, just hours after Connecticut cut down the nets for the second straight year. The trio had Duke at the very top of the list.

The Blue Devils made the Elite Eight this year, defeating No. 1 seed Houston on the way. Next year, head coach Jon Scheyer welcomes four five-star prospects and two more four-star freshmen into the building. Myerberg, Smith, and Timanus said the 2024 recruiting class makes the Blue Devils one of the youngest, deepest teams in the country.

“It will be on coach Jon Scheyer to push all the right buttons and find the best rotation for a team that looks on paper to be very capable of winning the national title,” they wrote.

It remains to be seen which players from this past season will return, with starters Kyle Filipowski, Jared McCain, Tyrese Proctor, and Mark Mitchell weighing the NBA or the transfer portal, but the USA TODAY Sports staff believes in the Blue Devils no matter who stays or goes.

Alabama, who made the Final Four this season, came in second in the site’s early rankings. Iowa State, Kansas, and the national champion Huskies followed to finish the top five in order.

Rival North Carolina came immediately after in sixth. Clemson (13th) was the only other ACC team on the list.

The Athletic has Duke first in too-early rankings for 2024-25 season

The Blue Devils and the No. 1 recruiting class in the country could run the men’s college basketball scene next season, according to The Athletic’s rankings.

The Athletic released its early top 25 for the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season on Monday evening, and the Blue Devils were first in the rankings.

The Blue Devils made the Elite Eight this season, and despite (probably) losing presumed first-round picks Kyle Filipowski and Jared McCain to the NBA, they have the top overall recruiting class in the country. Cooper Flagg, the highest-ranked prospect in the country, will lead a freshman class with three other five-star prospects and two more four-star players.

The Athletic’s CJ Moore and Sam Vecenie, who put the rankings together, gave an expected starting five in the rankings, too. They had Jeremy Roach, Tyrese Proctor, and Caleb Foster coming back to start alongside Flagg and Khaman Maluach.

“This is the deepest team in college basketball as presently constructed at the time of recording,” the duo wrote. “This Duke team kind of has everything.”

Moore and Vecenie emphasized that the Blue Devils, in their projections, have a balance of freshmen and veteran leadership.

Gonzaga was second in the site’s rankings, with Houston, Iowa State, and Connecticut rounding out the top five. North Carolina came in ninth in the rankings, and Miami (18th) was the only other ACC team in the top 25.

Cooper Flagg named Chipotle Nationals MVP, Darren Harris makes all-tournament team

Duke signee Cooper Flagg helped his high school team win a national title on Saturday en route to tournament MVP honors, and future teammate Darren Harris joined him on the all-tournament team.

After he helped lead Montverde Academy to a national title at Chipotle Nationals on Saturday afternoon, Duke signee Cooper Flagg was named the MVP of the boys’ tournament.

Flagg, the No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2024 and the face of Duke’s vaunted recruiting class, scored 16 points and added eight rebounds and six blocks in the title game victory over Paul VI Catholic.

Flagg also dropped 28 points in the semifinal win over Columbus and 16 points in the quarterfinal game against AZ Compass Prep to end the three-game run with an average of 20 points per game.

Darren Harris, another future Blue Devil who led runner-up Paul VI, also made the five-player all-tournament squad. Harris broke through with a 36-point performance against IMG Academy in the quarterfinals.

Duke legend Carlos Boozer’s son, Cameron Boozer, made the five-man team as well for his efforts with Columbus High School.

Montverde boys basketball completes undefeated season with win at Chipotle Nationals

Cooper Flagg and Montverde took down Paul VI to win the prestigious Chipotle Nationals and complete the undefeated season.

All season, Montverde boys basketball was, on paper, the best team in the league. Stacked with five-star talent, stopping the Eagles wasn’t as simple as stopping No. 1 2024 recruit Cooper Flagg — it was about stopping everyone.

The paper translated to the court. Nobody could stop the unit. The regular season came and went without a loss; the Eagles proved themselves once again in the prestigious Chipotle Nationals.

They took down Paul VI, ranked No. 4 in the Super 25, by a score of 79-63 to hoist the hardware and cap the undefeated, 34-0 season.

The offensive star today was Curtis Givens, who poured in 24 points off the bench. He made six 3-pointers and shot 7-for-11 from the field while adding three assists and three rebounds. A four-star LSU commit, Givens’ role of coming off the bench wasn’t because of his skill — it was a testament to that of the team, and his willingness to fulfill what the group needed most. His 26 minutes on Saturday were third-most on the team.

The most minutes went to Flagg, whose six blocks, one steal and eight offensive rebounds were as integral as his offensive performance. He had 16 points, but largely deferred on that end as he only attempted nine shots.

You can see in this short highlight clip that both a block and a steal from him led to immediate points:

Five-star Maryland commit Derik Queen, who won the McDonald’s MVP award last week, had a nice game, scoring 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists.

Paul VI was led once again by Darren Harris, whose superb Chipotle Nationals run came to a close with 16 points on inefficient shooting. He was electric in the opening rounds, but Montverde managed to hold him to just 5-for-14 shooting. It sealed a remarkable season for the Panthers, who went 35-3 and whose only losses were to Montverde (twice, including the championship) and Columbus (who fell to Montverde in the semifinals).

Montverde’s run of excellence sends its seniors out on a high note. The entire starting lineup was made up of five-star players, and with four-star Givens coming off the bench, they met — and perhaps exceeded — the immense expectations put upon them this year. The Eagles also set up a future run, with five-star sophomores Caleb Gaskins and Kayden Allen getting in on the action.

It’s Montverde’s seventh Chipotle (formerly GEICO) championship, and they’re hoping to be back next year for another run.
They join their sister Eagles as champions, who completed the three-peat earlier in the morning.

It’s a good day and a good year to be an Eagle.

Related: Montverde girls basketball three-peats as Chipotle Nationals champions