After an entire high school career of hype and an offseason of anticipation, Duke basketball fans were formally introduced to [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] on Friday night.
The Blue Devils hosted the Countdown to Craziness, their preseason intrasquad scrimmage, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Before Flagg and his teammates took the court, each member of the roster got introduced to the home crowd. Predictably, nobody got a bigger roar than the top-ranked freshman.
The presumed No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, Flagg already signed an NIL sponsorship deal with New Balance. He didn’t lose a game as a senior at Montverde Academy, and he went to Team USA Olympic training camp as the only collegiate player on the Select Team.
He took over the court at times despite sharing the court with former NBA MVPs, prompting national analysts to question whether NBA teams should intentionally throw their season for his draft rights.
📍C👀P @Cooper_Flagg 🏰 pic.twitter.com/LxsWktMxVr
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) October 5, 2024
Flagg makes his regular-season debut at home against Maine on November 4.