CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Walking by way of the Hilton Hotel in uptown Charlotte Wednesday morning, you could not go greater than 5 minutes with out listening to his identify known as by a member of the media, even when he wasn’t within the constructing.
Cooper Flagg.
Will it reside as much as expectations? Is he the perfect school prospect since Zion Williamson? Could he win nationwide participant of the yr?
The 6-foot-9 freshman is the star of Duke’s No. 1 recruiting class and is the clear favourite to be taken at No. 1 in 2025 NBA Draft. A local of Maine, Flagg’s rise from a small-town child who places protection first – and is a unprecedented athlete with a high-level IQ for his age – makes him probably the most intriguing participant within the sport. He will likely be talked about day by day all yr lengthy and, in all chance, for a lot of extra years to come back. Yet with all this hype surrounding the Gatorade and Naismith National High School Player of the Year, Flagg is not occupied with all the thrill.
“Cooper has a whole lot of humility, and I imply a whole lot of humility,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer mentioned of his top-ranked freshman. “Watching him, you see the boldness and grit that he performs with, and I like that too. But he genuinely desires to be coached on each little factor, and also you both have it or you do not…. It’s simply not like that . Don’t make it higher: it makes our workforce higher as a result of it units the tone.
“If he agrees to teach on the highest stage, everybody else will too. He (has been) distinctive at that.”
Flagg, who final summer season turned the primary collegian to hitch USA Basketball’s gold medal workforce in coaching camp earlier than the Olympics since Doug McDermott and Marcus Smart in 2013, averaged 16.5 factors, 7 .5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a pair of.7 blocks per recreation. Montverde Academy with an undefeated file of 33-0 and a nationwide championship as a senior in highschool.
“Cooper would not care concerning the media,” mentioned Tyrese Proctor, who is predicted to be Duke’s chief within the backcourt in his junior season with Jeremy Roach at Baylor and Jared McCain as a freshman (76ers). “He’s only a straight competitor. Obviously, with all of the hype and all the things at 17, you’d assume he’d play with it a bit bit, however it would not faze him in any respect. He’s a winner and that is all he cares about. He’s a participant workforce participant and might do all the things.
“He’s so versatile. The stage of competitiveness he has, that is what makes him so good.”
“Cooper Flagg is as marketed,” sophomore guard Caleb Foster mentioned. “Everyone talks about him, however he is only a humble man who matches in with all of us. He would not attempt to make himself higher than he’s. He’s only a winner who competes day by day in coaching. He has a mentality: deliver his workforce as distant as doable.”
“He is aware of easy methods to win and does all the things he can to win,” Proctor added. “It would not matter if there are 5 or ten seconds left within the recreation – or 5 minutes – he’ll do all the things he can in that second to win. I at all times work with him and he’s at all times within the health club.”
As for the massive image in Durham, it is a important third season for Scheyer, who went 27-9 in every of his first two years on the helm with an Elite Eight journey that resulted in a heartbreaking loss to North Carolina State , 11 seeds. final March. While Flagg is the headline identify, he is not the one extremely touted freshman in Duke’s high recruiting class, with NBA Academy Africa product Khaman Maluach and 6-5 wing Kon Knueppel as the opposite high names in a category of six members. Pair that with 4 transfers, together with Purdue’s Mason Gillis and former Tulane star Sion James, and also you get a complete of 10 new faces on Duke’s roster.
“I’m shocked folks do not discuss Khaman Maluach extra,” Foster mentioned of the 7-1 heart who represented South Sudan in Paris because the youngest participant on the Olympics this summer season. “He’s a bizarre athlete… I’ve by no means performed with anybody like him. He’s bought a 9-8 wingspan. That’s not proper. He protects the paint and I feel he is forward of his time.”
Scheyer was extraordinarily complimentary of Knueppel, who averaged 25.9 factors, 8.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per recreation as a senior at Wisconsin Lutheran High School en path to incomes Player of the Year honors of the state.
“Each of our freshmen had moments, however what stands out about Kon is that he offers us these moments day by day,” Scheyer mentioned. “He’s bought the fitting habits. From offensive footwork to defensive footwork, he is been a pure. He’s bought the toughness from the within. He is aware of easy methods to play by way of contact and might actually shoot the ball. He’s been nice.”
What is the most important problem for the 37-year-old Scheyer heading into the 2024-25 season? It’s about balancing high-level freshmen expertise with breaking by way of and getting Duke to the place the expectations at all times are inside Cameron Indoor Stadium: a Final Four.
“It’s the toughest factor for me as a result of I’m naturally very impatient,” Scheyer mentioned. “I’m an impatient particular person, however I additionally really feel like because of this I’ve been capable of finding success in my profession and I do not really feel like I’ve to attend, however simply go for it and win. But on the similar time, it is a course of. our guys simply win and lose. I need to get to 40-0, however I would like them to observe their efforts day by day and their competitiveness, and I feel all of it comes naturally.
“I have never mastered it by any means, however I do know now we have to be affected person. We have two of the 5 youngest gamers in school this yr and I’m betting on these guys, however we’ll undergo some rising pains at occasions.”
