Duke basketball makes confident Cooper Flagg claim before NBA Draft
Duke basketball made a confident social media post about Cooper Flagg ahead of the NBA Draft. The Blue Devils are coming off a stellar third season under head coach Jon Scheyer. The past year's team finished with a record of 35-4, winning the ACC regular season and conference tournament championships en route to a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance. Duke subsequently made it to the Final Four, where its season ended in an epic clash against Houston.
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While it may not have been the ending Jon Scheyer and company wanted, the Blue Devils' head coach has this program back to its healthy, championship-contending ways. And the main reason Duke basketball was able to put together this special season was due to former No. 1 overall recruit Cooper Flagg. The Newport, Maine native lived up to the hype and then some, becoming the first freshman since Zion Williamson to win the Naismith College Player of the Year award.
Flagg now heads into the draft as the heavy favorite to be the No. 1 overall pick, and Duke basketball believes that is a given in a recent post on Twitter when Cooper visited the program for a youth camp.
Next season's Blue Devils team has large shoes to fill after the success of Cooper Flagg and company. Fortunately, Jon Scheyer has assembled another elite recruiting class, headlined by the Boozer twins. Cameron and Cayden are five-star recruits who should be immediate stars on this roster. Duke basketball also returns a few contributors from this past season's team, including Caleb Foster, Maliq Brown, and Isaiah Evans. Evans, in particular, has All-American potential, so his coming back to Durham is critical for this program.
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In addition, Jon Scheyer made a huge transfer portal splash, adding Washington State standout Cedric Coward. Duke basketball may not have the high-level talent that the Cooper Flagg squad did, but this team could be built for an even deeper NCAA Tournament run if this group builds the necessary chemistry. It would be par for the course with Scheyer's tenure should the Blue Devils continue going further in the Big Dance.
Overall, it wasn't all that bold for Duke basketball to make this claim. A lot would have to go wrong for Cooper Flagg not to be the No. 1 pick in this upcoming draft. The 18-year-old is a generational talent and will be the consensus favorite to win Rookie of the Year for the 2025-26 NBA season. And Flagg has brought Duke basketball back to where it belongs. It's up to Schyer to continue this momentum in Durham.
Related: Dawn Thornton, Alabama A&M land former Pac-12 assistant
Related: 4-star big man reclassifies to 2025 to play for Alabama this season
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