DURHAM — Cooper Flagg won’t turn 18 until the end of December. At the moment when the Basketball Duke freshman celebrates his upcoming birthday, the Blue Devils will play 11 games in the 2024-25 season.
Flagg, a 17-year-old from Maine, is surrounded by a level of hype in Durham that is reminiscent of Zion Williamson’s unique experience with the Blue Devils.
Having already signed a promotion agreement with New Balance Before he plays his first college game, Flagg will likely be the most polarizing player in college basketball. It’s already the biggest story.
“I’ve seen a lot of different seasons, different hype, different expectations,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said Friday. “With Cooper…I don’t know if we’ve ever had a 17-year-old with that much attention around him.”
Even the Zion Williamson hype train didn’t leave the station until the Blue Devils bludgeoned Kentucky in the 2018-19 season opener.
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Cooper Flagg’s hype train has been rolling ever since he decided to reclassify and join the Blue Devils a year ahead of schedule. This gained momentum this summer when Flagg impressed NBA players in Las Vegas during Team USA’s Olympic basketball team training camp.
It kicked into high gear this week when NBA champion and Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett praised Flagg.
From here on out, it’ll be full throttle, no brakes – and no breaks for everyone else in college basketball – for the next seven months.
NBA scouts will be coming in droves to get a glimpse, hoping their franchise is the one capable of #CaptureTheFlagg in the 2025 NBA Draft. Flagg is the heavy favorite to be the top pick and mediocre teams could err on the side of tanking to improve their chances of landing the No. 1 selection.
“As far as the hype and everything else, it’s something you learn to deal with,” Flagg said during the Blue Devils’ annual preseason media day.
“For me, it’s just about playing basketball.”
Among his notable traits is Flagg’s competitiveness, which Scheyer said never turns on or off. That relentless attitude on the court contributes to the 6-foot-9 forward’s overall skill, a player capable of dominating a game without scoring 25 points.
Flagg seems to take as much joy in grabbing a rebound or hitting a shot as he does in throwing down a vicious dunk, often letting out primal screams after these game-changing plays.
Williamson has brought a steady stream of celebrities to Cameron Indoor Stadium, including President Barack Obama. Flagg may not bring a former president to Durham, but there will be no shortage of stars to see the show.
ESPN had the “Zion Cam,” and the network will likely experiment with something similar for Flagg this season. The possibility of a split-screen format will certainly encourage fans to write calm and thoughtful posts on social media.
“You haven’t seen it in a while, that kind of attention,” Duke associate head coach Chris Carrawell said of Flagg.
“For three minutes (at Team USA training camp in Las Vegas), he was the best player on the field. At 17, it wasn’t the fact that he played well, it was the fact that we didn’t know who he was. You would have said, “Who is this guy?” He plays for the Raptors, right?
“He looks like those (NBA) guys, physically. But it’s going to be hard. It’s great so far. There’s a long way to go, but it’s been a great time so far.
Like it or not, it seems inevitable that Flagg will be the headliner at the center of the college basketball universe this season. Fans and haters will be listening, and the noise will only get louder.
All on board.
Editor Rodd Baxley can be contacted at [email protected] or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article was originally published on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke Basketball’s Cooper Flagg Brings Back Zion Williamson Memories
