Cooper Flagg Is So Good You Might Even Root for Duke

Duke University’s men’s basketball success over the years—the national championships, the Final Four appearances, all the NBA players who’ve honed their craft down in Durham—has created a blue-chip brand. It’s also spawned that most uniquely American sports specimen: the Dukie everyone loves to hate.

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Christian Laettner, the 6-ft. 11-in. sharpshooter with the matinee hair and icy stare, won back-to-back March Madness titles with Duke in 1991 and 1992, but once stomped his foot on a Kentucky player during an Elite Eight game, and was the subject of a documentary called, fittingly, I Hate Christian Laettner. Shooting guard Grayson Allen, now a member of the Phoenix Suns, gained a reputation for tripping people; big man Kyle Filipowski, a rookie for the Utah Jazz, caught flak for the same last season, when he tripped a player from Duke archrival North Carolina, though he said the incident was unintentional. JJ Reddick, the current head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, got under the skin of opponents and fans alike as a Duke All-American in the mid-aughts. Nineties point guard Steve Wojciechowski’s signature move was slapping the floor when getting ready to guard an opponent, to show the world he was rarin’ to go.

But as the NCAA men’s tournament tips off on March 18 with the “First Four” play-in games, and the round-of-64 bracket gets going on March 20, basketball fans will have a new Duke star to watch–one they might actually like.

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Hoping to lead the powerhouse to its first national title in a decade is freshman Cooper Flagg, the 18-year-old Duke phenom who’s the most exciting do-it-all player to compete in college basketball since Kevin Durant spent his freshman year at Texas nearly two decades ago. And unlike some of his predecessors, Flagg, the likely national college player of the year who’s also the consensus top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft—in the very likely case he decides to go pro—seems more inclined to let his talent do the talking.

Just take a peek at his March 5 performance against Wake Forest, in what was likely his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke’s iconic home gym: in Duke’s 93-60 victory, the 6-ft. 9-in. Flagg scored 28 points to go along with 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 blocks, and a couple of steals. He displayed his full arsenal: driving in the lane and finishing with his left—or weak—hand, a one-legged mid-range step-back jump-shot, a three-pointer dribbling to his left, a three-pointer moving to his right, spinning and dishing to the open man, a crossover dribble and two-handed slam on a fast break, and more.

Flagg had every right to flaunt his superior ability, and taunt his opponent, in one instance earlier this year, when he absolutely posterized Guillermo Diaz Graham, a 7-ft. junior from Pittsburgh, with a one-handed jam at Cameron. He did come face-to-face with Diaz Graham for a brief tick after the dunk—a perfectly human reaction, especially since Diaz Graham also fouled him on the play–but that was more because Diaz Graham was standing in Flagg’s way while he moved toward the adoring crowd.

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“What I would say about Cooper Flagg is that he has an appropriate ego,” says USA men’s basketball national team director Sean Ford, who watched Flagg dominate a scrimmage against the 2024 U.S. Olympic team in Las Vegas last summer. Flagg hadn’t even turned 18 when he hit a three-pointer in Anthony Davis’ face. “He knows how good he is. But he also doesn’t try to be flamboyant about it,” says Ford. “He plays as hard as he can. He brings everything he has. That’s what makes you want to root for him.” 

A Duke Blue Devil to cheer for? My word. 

Flagg’s unlikely trajectory also makes him appealing. He’s from Maine, the only contiguous state to never have a school in the men’s Division 1 NCAA tournament. The last Maine native selected in the NBA Draft was Jeff Turner, 41 years ago, by the New Jersey Nets–and he grew up in Florida. Flagg and his twin brother Ace—a high school senior who has committed to play at the University of Maine next year—were born and raised in Pine Tree State. Their parents, Kelly and Ralph, both played collegiately in Maine: Kelly at the University of Maine, Ralph at Eastern Maine Community College.

(Kelly, who had some choice words for North Carolina fans after Duke’s 82-69 win over the Tar Heels on March 8, may be the trash-talker of the family.)

On the high school travel circuit, Cooper Flagg eschewed the more nationally dominant club teams to suit up, along with his brother and their buddies, for Maine United. The team thrived in front of college coaches during summer showcase tournaments. “There were a lot of doubters, because Maine doesn’t have that history of producing NBA players,” says Matt MacKenzie, Flagg’s Maine-based basketball trainer. “It took some time for people to really believe in the hype. Any time that we put an expectation on him, he just continued to blow it out of the water.”

At Duke, he’s filled the stat sheet all season, averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. On the defensive side of the ball, he’s also averaged 1.5 steals per game, with 1.3 blocks. Duke is 28-3, and finished 19-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. “He’s going to be a coach’s dream in the league,” says Chris Brickley, a basketball trainer who’s worked out Flagg as well as many prominent NBA stars, such as Durant, LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell, and Carmelo Anthony.

That league, of course, is the NBA, which Flagg will almost certainly join this summer. As Flagg was subbed out of the last home game of Duke’s season, the Cameron faithful serenated him with cheers of “One more year! One more year!” Flagg responded by yelling to the crowd, “Run it back!” Flagg has expressed a desire to return to Duke—by all accounts, he’s enjoying the college experience. And now that college athletes can earn lucrative Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals—Flagg has sponsorship agreements with New Balance, Gatorade, and Fanatics, among others, and reportedly makes a healthy seven figures—a sophomore season at Duke could pay dividends. But he’s bound to make much more in the NBA—his second contract in the league could be worth close to $400 million. Why risk that windfall by returning to college another year and possibly getting hurt?

“I think he’s going to go and enter the NBA draft,” says MacKenzie, who has continued to work with Flagg during his freshman year at Duke. “Right now his goal is to make a Final Four and win an NCAA championship. He just doesn’t want to look too far beyond that.”

Hoops is a star-driven sport, and one of the most highly touted NBA prospects ever going on a deep tournament run, for a team like Duke—a draw for both supporters and haters—is sure to brighten up March. Duke’s third-year coach Jon Scheyer, who’s been tasked with the difficult job of succeeding the all-time winningest coach in men’s college basketball history, Mike Krzyzewski, is forging his own path with the likable Flagg. 

Go Duke? 

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