Duke's Cooper Flagg declares for NBA Draft, likely to be No. 1 pick :: WRALSportsFan.com
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Duke’s Cooper Flagg declares for NBA Draft, likely to be No. 1 pick :: WRALSportsFan.com

Posted on by Matthew Reynolds

By Brian Murphy, WRAL

Duke’s Cooper Flagg is headed to the NBA.

Flagg, the ACC Player of the Year and consensus national player of the year, is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. The do-it-all freshman forward led Duke to the ACC regular-season title and the Final Four. He missed most of the ACC Tournament, which Duke also won, with an ankle injury.

He posted a video on social media.

Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game during his lone year at Duke, putting up one of the best freshman campaigns in college basketball history. Flagg, the top recruit in the country, turned 18 during the season after graduating from high school a year early.

“Duke fans, my teammates, the brotherhood, everybody that was along for the journey, it was an incredible year, probably the best year of my life and I have so much gratitude and I feel so blessed for all the opportunities that I was given,” Flagg said in the video. “Duke has always been a dream for me, but I’m excited to announce that I’ll be entering my name into the 2025 NBA draft. Today is just the beginning, but I have the Brotherhood with me for life.”

“I’m really proud of Cooper for the special season he had this year,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said in a post on social media. “I think the accolades speak for themselves, winning every national player of the year award. His highlights, his statistics, the way he impacted the game on both ends of the floor really in every category was off the charts, as good of a freshman season that a guy has had here.

“But to me the separator and the joy of coaching Cooper is the person he was everyday, the teammate that he was. Never about statistics or anything other than creating an environment and helping his team to win. And we won a lot of games and had a lot of success and a lot of times that environment is created from your best player. Cooper did an incredible job in every facet of our program on and off the court with what he’s done.”

Flagg is the third Duke underclassmen to declare for the draft, joining fellow freshman Kon Knueppel and junior Tyrese Proctor. The Blue Devils’ season ended in heart-breaking fashion against Houston in the Final Four as the Cougars erased a 14-point second-half deficit.

Underclassmen have until April 26 to declare for the NBA Draft. The lottery will be held on May 12. Early entrants can withdraw from the draft until June 15. The NBA Draft begins June 25. Utah, Washington and Charlotte have a 14% chance to win the No. 1 pick in the lottery. New Orleans (12.5%) and Philadelphia (10.5% have the next best odds.

Flagg is likely to become the sixth Duke men’s basketball player to be selected No. 1 in the NBA Draft and the third since 2019. Paolo Banchero (2022), Zion Williamson (2019), Kyrie Irving (2011), Elton Brand (1999 and Art Heyman (1963) are the others.

Source: wralsportsfan.com