With the communication window now open for the Class of 2026, Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer is back at the Montverde Academy well.
Duke basketball keeps going back to the Montverde Academy well.
With the recruiting window now open for the Class of 2026, Max Feldman reported on Saturday that 2026 five-star Caleb Gaskins heard from the Blue Devils.
The five-star power forward currently sits as the seventh overall player in the class in 247Sports’ rankings.
Montverde Academy produced some Duke stars over the last decade. [autotag]RJ Barrett[/autotag], the third overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, and [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top-ranked player in the Class of 2024, both played for the Eagles.
As a sophomore last season, Gaskins averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game for the undefeated national champion. He shot 64% from the floor, the fourth-best mark on the team.
The duo played at Montverde Academy, the school Flagg led to an undefeated season as a senior this past year. Barrett also played for Montverde from 2015-18 when he was the top-ranked player in the country, an honor Flagg also earned for the Class of 2024.
Montverde posted two videos of the duo going head-to-head with Barrett making one shot and Flagg burying two. Barrett nailed a step-back 3-pointer while Flagg drove and spun his way to midrange jumpers.
Barrett, a member of Duke’s vaunted Class of 2018 recruiting class alongside [autotag]Zion Williamson[/autotag] and Cam Reddish. After being taken third overall in the 2019 draft by the New York Knicks, he was traded to the Toronto Raptors in December.
Cooper Flagg fends off Ace Bailey in final on3 recruiting rankings.
Cooper Flagg has had one heck of a final year in high school. It started with him reclassifying last September to rejoin his original class. Soon after, he committed to the Duke Blue Devils, his dream school and the team he’s been a fan of since he was a little kid. He would then lead Montverde Academy to a national title, and along the way, Flagg dominated and received all types of awards.
He would be named McDonald’s All-American and Jordan Brand All-American and compete in the Nike Hoop Summit. Now, he finishes the whirlwind year as On3’s number-one player in its final 2024 recruiting rankings.
Ace Bailey, the number two overall prospect, pushed Flagg all season long in. an attempt to overtake him. Still, Jamie Shaw of On3 Sports specifically cited Flagg’s ability and consistency in performing at the highest levels since entering high school as the most significant reason Flagg remained ahead of Bailey. Bailey is hyper-athletic, with great size and a great frame, and he showcased terrific shotmaking but also relied too much on his jump shot. In contrast, Flagg utilizes his ever-improving jump shot as a small part of his ability to get to the basket and be a creator and initiator in half-court, where he makes terrific reads.
The conversation will continue during the summer and through each player’s one and only college seasons at Duke and Rutgers, respectively, as each is on a crash course for the 2025 NBA Draft.
Flagg can now rest and enjoy his time off and being to prepare for the next challenge: becoming a Duke basketball player. He won’t make the trip to Durham for good until sometime in June, but based on everything we’ve seen from Flagg, this young man will not be afraid of the moment or challenge.
Cooper Flagg joins prestigious club as he was named Gatorade National Player of the Year, and Duke great Paolo Banchero was there to give him the trophy.
The Brotherhood is genuine. People may not believe it, but Duke’s basketball brotherhood is authentic, and at this point, Duke has infiltrated basketball at all levels.
Former Blue Devil Paolo Banchero is in the midst of his second NBA season, and it’s been an exceptional year. He was named an All-Star for the first time and he’s led his Orlando Magic team into the playoff picture with a 42-29 record.
Before his days as the face of the Magic franchise, he spent a tremendous year in Durham as the face of Duke’s program during Coach K’s last season as head coach of the Blue Devils. While Duke came up short, losing to UNC in the Final Four, Banchero brought Duke to the national semifinals for the first time since 2015.
The mesmerizing, do-it-all power forward averaged 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds as the focal point of their offensive attack. So it only makes sense that Banchero would pass that torch to the next do-it-all forward with a chance to be a No. 1 NBA draft pick.
Paolo Banchero surprised Duke signee & 2025 projected No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg with the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award. pic.twitter.com/BEnsq2z2x4
Duke signee, the Class of 2024’s top overall recruit, and projected No. 1 draft pick in the 2025 NBA draft Cooper Flagg was named Gatorade Player of the Year on Wednesday, and Banchero was there to deliver the good news and the trophy to him.
It’s a full circle moment for Flagg, who grew up a Duke fan and is now months away from heading to Durham to write his chapter in the same way Banchero did.
Like Banchero, Flagg is a dynamic forward capable of doing anything on the floor. The two differ mainly in the scoring department, where Banchero probably had a little more diversity in his ability to score the ball. Still, Flagg can pass, shoot, and dribble, and he is a better defender than Banchero was at this stage of his career.
Either way, Duke’s 2025 season will center on the newly minted Gatorade National Player of the Year’s ability to dominate on the basketball court. A Final Four trip like Banchero’s would be an incredible accomplishment for his likely one-year college career.
Cooper Flagg, the top prospect in high school, has been named the Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Cooper Flagg, one of the best high school prospects of the decade and leader of the 31-0 Montverde Academy (Fla.) Eagles, was named the 2023-24 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year on Wednesday.
The Duke commit received the award from former Blue Devil Paolo Banchero, a star on the Orlando Magic.
(Credit: Joe Greer)
“It’s just an incredible honor to be included in this list of players,” Flagg said to Yahoo Sports of the award that has been given to stars like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Jayson Tatum. “Just seeing how all the hard work is paying off and it just motivates me to keep getting better and better.”
Flagg is a 6-foot-9, 195-pound do-it-all wing who can score at all three levels, plus play elite defense with the size and speed to guard one through five and strength to block shots. He’s also a good passer, showing off his modern-day skill set at Montverde with averages of 16.1 points, 7.6 rebounds,3.9 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.6 steals per game his senior season.
“I’ve gotten to know Cooper a little bit at Jayson’s camp,” Banchero said to the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s just been awesome following his journey, and to present him with an award like this, it’s dope for him and also myself.”
Montverde has been the clear-cut No. 1 team in the Super 25 all season long behind Flagg and a bevy of five-star talent around him. The Eagles are undefeated heading into the Chipotle tournament in early April, having taken down several of the next-best teams in the country.
Flagg reclassified from 2025 to 2024 in August, shortly after he dominated at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, in which he averaged 25.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 6.9 blocks, and 5.7 assists per game while posting a double-double in all seven games and recording three triple-doubles, all with points, rebounds, and blocks.
As the projected top pick of the 2025 class, he committed to Duke over UConn and Kansas. In an interview with SLAM Magazine, he talked about the decision:
“I think after I got on campus at Duke, I really started to feel it, to be honest,” he says. “That’s something the coaches definitely stressed to me, that once you get to campus, it’s something you have to feel. And [I knew then] I wanted to go to Duke and that’s where I wanted to play college basketball. What went into the decision, I mean, I was just looking for a coaching staff I was really comfortable with, but [also] a coach and staff that was really going to hold me accountable. Being on the visit, I got to see them in practice, and see how they were holding their guys accountable, and really pushing them to be better.
Montverde is prepping for the Chipotle Nationals basketball tournament, formerly known as the GEICO Nationals, but Flagg has one more trophy for his mantle before that begins:
He is the 2023-24 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
On Friday night, Flagg’s Montverde Academy (from Montverde, Florida and No. 1 in the USA TODAY HSS Super 25) played Long Island Lutheran from Brookville, New York (No. 7 in the USA TODAY rankings)
The game, at Hofstra University was a showcase event for two of the top programs in the nation. And Flagg didn’t disappoint, at least not early on.
The nation’s top player, Flagg is a five-star forward and a Duke basketball commit. In recent weeks, there has been some buzz that he might lose the No. 1 overall recruit status to Ace Bailey, a Rutgers basketball commit.
Playing on national television on Friday night, Flagg has eight points, four rebounds and five assists at halftime. Oh, and one opponent he put on the floor.
Cooper Flagg and Montverde beat Prolific Prep, but for the second time this season, the AJ Dybantsa-led team pushed them to their limit.
With 1:38 remaining in Saturday’s game between national powerhouses Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.) and Montverde Academy (Fla.), Prolific Prep led the undefeated Eagles by two points.
Montverde has yet to be truly tested this season. Running out a lineup of three McDonald’s All-Americans (and arguably five worthy of consideration), the Eagles entered the game 22-0 with an average win margin of about 32 points per game.
With just half a minute left, Prolific Prep was as close to beating them as any team had been since Jan. 14, when the team faced, well, Prolific Prep. The score was tied in that game with about a minute remaining before Montverde grabbed it.
On Saturday, Prolific Prep did not score over the final minute-and-a-half as Montverde clamped its defense, forcing a shot-clock violation and an offensive foul. The Eagles went on an 8-0 catalyzed by a pair of field goals by Robert Wright III, a basket by Cooper Flagg, and then a pair of free throws by Derik Queen and Flagg. The final score was 78-72, a game that was even closer than the final indicated.
âś…Held the Crew scoreless over the final 1:35 âś…Closed the game with an 8-0 run âś…14 offensive rebounds âś…Scored 29 points off of 17 PP turnovers pic.twitter.com/LRn4m7hhKF
Liam McNeeley led with 19 points, while Flagg recorded 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals and blocks apiece. AJ Dybantsa led Prolific Prep with 18 points, four rebounds, and four assists, though Montverde forced him into six turnovers.
The finish was similar to that Jan. 14 game, when Prolific Prep led by as many as three points with less than three minutes to play. The Eagles went on a quick 5-0 run behind a pair of free throws and a Curtis Givens 3-pointer and closed it out with a 76-71 win.
Only one other team this season has come close to beating Montverde: No. 3 Paul VI, which kept the deficit within two points entering the final minute of the contest before McNeely hit a 3, Montverde forced a turnover, and Wright added another pair, per MaxPreps’ scoretracker. That made the difference, as the Eagles won by seven.
These games could mean a couple of different things. One is that Montverde is not a team that dominates only until it faces pressure. It’s a mature group that meets the pressure and has stayed strong against all of the top teams it has played so far this season.
The other is that Prolific Prep is darn near close to taking them down. The team knows it must play just about perfect to win. And twice, they’ve toed that line of perfection.
Montverde might not want to see them a third time.
Montverde boys basketball, led by Cooper Flagg and Derik Queen, have won its first 15 games of the seasons over tough opponents.
Montverde Academy (Fla.) entered this season with sky-high expectations stemming from its seven rostered players ranked as three-star or better, four of whom have five-star ratings.
Fifteen games into the season, the Eagles are more than meeting them.
On Friday, Montverde’s 93-51 win over Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) was a blowout over what is arguably another top 5-to-10 team in the nation. The Eagles scored the first 12 points of the game before taking a 24-4 lead into the second quarter. They never trailed and raised their record to 15-0 halfway through the season.
The schedule has been as demanding as any other team in the country.
Several teams Montverde beat are under consideration for the USA TODAY Sports Super 25: Huntsville (Ala.), which is 21-1, suffered its sole loss to the Eagles. Wasatch Academy fell by 35 points. Montverde beat IMG Academy and Columbus, whose rosters contain four- and five-star players such as Darius Acuff Jr., Donnie Freeman, Khani Rooths, and Cameron and Cayden Boozer, and then Link Academy, who has about a half-dozen ranked prospects of its own. AZ Compass Prep managed to keep the score within a dozen before Archbishop Stepinac fell by 40.
(USA TODAY Network)
In the City of Palms Classic, Montverde played against what are likely the second- and third-best teams in the nation in Paul VI and Long Island Lutheran. In the semifinals, Montverde took down Paul VI 69-62 before outplaying LoLu and winning by 14 in the championship.
MaxPreps has 13 games worth of stats for Montverde in its system. According to the outlet, five-star senior Derik Queen leads the team in scoring with 16.8 points per game to go along with 7.2 rebounds in those games. Five-star senior Cooper Flagg is averaging 15.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocks per game.
Asa Newell, a five-star forward, is averaging 12 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks per game, while fellow five-star player Liam McNeeley is posting 13.6 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game.
With the Eagles led by that group of highly touted prospects, they have run through their schedule with minimal challenge. Through 15 games, it’s unclear if any team can present a serious threat to this group.
After Cooper Flagg put up 52 points, Sam Vecenie tweeted that the 5-star sophomore will be “bored by high school basketball” by the time he’s a senior.
Cooper Flagg has still yet to finish his sophomore year of high school, but he’s looking more and more like a star-in-the-making each time he steps on the basketball court.
In his EYBL debut last week, Flagg went off for a remarkable 52 points and 12 rebounds. In the highlight reel posted to YouTube by SLAM, Flagg showed a variety of skills on both sides of the ball: He showed some polish in his post moves; he stroked 3s, including one in which he created space and shot with a hand in his face; he was a ball handler at times, both at the top of the key and on the fast break, showing an ability to read the court well. On defense, he had multiple blocks in the paint.
Flagg, listed at 6-foot-8 and 195 pounds, attends Montverde Academy. In about 20 minutes per game as a sophomore, he averaged 9.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.2 blocks, according to MaxPreps. The Eagles consistently have stacked rosters, and Flagg’s role should continue to grow as he gets older and more experienced.
His play has earned high praise from prospect analysts. Sam Vecenie of The Athletic tweeted that Flagg is “one of the more complete prospects” Vecenie has seen for a player of Flagg’s age, and that the sophomore will “be bored by high school basketball” before he graduates.
Not sure what the answer is for Cooper Flagg yet, but he is undeniably going to be bored by high school basketball by the time he is a senior. One of the more complete prospects I’ve seen at his age. https://t.co/5O8SSL7cO4
Based on just this EYBL game alone, it looks like that could be the case. Very few athletes at the high school level will be able to challenge him.
247Sports reports that eight schools have offered the 2025 star, including Duke, Iowa, Michigan and UCLA.
Read more at USA TODAY, where reporter Bryan Kalbrosky wrote a more in-depth piece about Flagg in July with some quotes from recruiting experts — including a line in that Flagg might be the best player in college basketball.
Montverde Academy girls basketball went on a massive second-half comeback led by Sahnya Jah to win back-to-back GEICO Nationals championships.
For the second year in a row, Montverde Academy has proven itself as the best girls basketball team in the country. On Saturday, the Eagles took down Long Island Lutheran 60-54 to win the GEICO Nationals championship.
With the win, the Eagles finish their season with a record of 26-1, dismantling practically every opponent in their path.
This game was not one of those in which Montverde led wire-to-wire. The Eagles trailed by 16 points in the third quarter, needing a massive comeback to get ahead.
That comeback was led by Sahnya Jah, who had 15 points in the second half alone to finish with a game-high 20. The University of South Carolina commit, ranked No. 40 on ESPN’s top 100 list, was a bully in the post during the comeback, and topped it off by picking up the offensive rebound, putting it back up, and getting fouled as the layup dropped:
South Carolina commit Sahnya Jah had a game-high 20 points including the crucial offensive rebound and-1 in the finals seconds 🔥🔥 @jah_sahnya@MVAGBBpic.twitter.com/5U07u4NLJC
Cori Allen contributed 15 points during the game, making three 3-pointers.
The Montverde defense also picked up in the second half, allowing Long Island Lutheran to make just six field goals in the final two quarters, according to SportbookLive. LuHi missed all nine 3-point attempts they took in the second half.
With the victory, Montverde caps off a wildly successful run led by their three players on ESPN’s top 100 list: Jah, Baylor commit Letycia Vasconcelos and Mississippi State commit Mjracle Sheppard. Just because those three are heading off to Division I basketball doesn’t mean the Eagles’ cupboard is empty — led by 2024 four-star Vivian Iwuchukwu, Montverde will aim to be right back at the GEICOs next year.
