By Mark Bergin, WRAL senior multiplatform producer

The Associated Press named Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg its men’s college basketball player of the year.

Flagg becomes just the fourth freshman to win the award, joining fellow Blue Devil, Zion Williamson (2019) along with Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2012) and Texas’ Kevin Durant (2007). Each went either No. 1 or No. 2 overall in the NBA draft a few months later.

On Friday, Flagg explained what the award and playing in the Final Four meant to him.

“It’s a surreal feeling,” Flagg said. “I think this whole tournament process so far has been kind of surreal for me.

“These are the moments you dream about as a little kid. This is the biggest stage of college basketball, so I’m just trying to cherish these moments with my teammates that we have left. I mean, the road ends here, so I’m just enjoying the last moments we have together and this whole process has been surreal.”

The 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Newport, Maine, won a two-man race with Auburn star Johni Broome. Both players were unanimous first-team AP All-Americans with teams at the Final Four, and they were the only two to receive player-of-the-year votes, Flagging 41 of the 61.

“It’s a really prestigious award, so it’s just an honor,” Flagg said. “I mean, all the credit to my teammates, coaches, my family that’s in here, my family and friends.

“I wouldn’t be here without them, so I just [have to] give all the credit to them.”

Flagg becomes the eighth Blue Devil to be named National Player of the Year by the AP, more than any other program in the awards 64-year history. The only other schools with three or more recipients are UCLA with five, Ohio State with four and North Carolina and Virginia each with three.

“Well, for me, we’ll be ready to go [Saturday] night and all that. But I do think [I’m] just so proud of this guy, what he’s done,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said of Flagg. “I have to remind myself it’s a year early. He should be graduating high school now. To have the season that he’s had, I think the stats speak for itself. I think how hard he plays, the highlights, all those things speaks for itself.

“But it’s the person he is every day. His energy is contagious for our team. He’s an amazing leader. The job he’s done in the classroom at Duke. Just everything he does has taken our program to a new height this year.”

Scheyer also said Flagg is humble.

“Him, his family, they’ve been a dream come true for me, for us and our program,” Scheyer said of Flagg. “Obviously, we got more work we want to do, finish this thing off.

“But couldn’t happen to a better guy. [I] couldn’t be more proud of this guy next to me.”

On Friday, Flagg said he valued Scheyer’s honesty as a coach.

“My AAU coaches [and] my parents were always brutally honest with me and that’s something that I was raised on,” Flagg said of Scheyer. “[I was] just looking for something like that.

“And then, knowing … having a coach that’s going to push me, be hard on me, not take it easy on me at all and get the best out of me.”

Flagg leads Duke in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (7.5 per game), assists (4.2 per game) and steals (1.4 per game). He ranks second on the team in blocks (1.3) behind fellow freshman Khaman Maluach (1.3).

“He plays so hard, he’s competitive, a great teammate,” Scheyer said after the Blue Devils’ home finale, “and obviously his ability is special.”

Duke plays Houston in the Final Four. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:49 p.m. ET Saturday.

If Duke wins Saturday, the Blue Devils advance to Monday night’s national championship game. Duke would play the winner of the Auburn-Florida game.

Flagg is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft on June 25.

“I hold myself to a high standard, high expectations,” Flagg told the AP. “Just because I know how much work I’ve put in and how many hours I’ve spent grinding and putting that work in. … It’s those expectations of just trusting what you do and just doing it to the highest level.”

And he repeatedly did that.

Flagg scored an Atlantic Coast Conference freshman-record 42 points against Notre Dame. There was his highlight-reel transition dunk against Pittsburgh. The big game to help the Blue Devils beat Broome’s Tigers, along with going for 30 points in an NCAA Sweet 16 win against Arizona that Scheyer called “one of the best tournament performances I’ve ever coached or been a part of.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Source: wralsportsfan.com