Jeff Borzellopr 21, 2025, 11:23 AM ET
Close the Basketball Recruitment Insider. I joined ESPN in 2014. Graduated from the University of Delaware.
Dukester’s Freshman Cooper Flag has won a wooden award, predicting a first-place pick and is officially taking part in the NBA Draft, he announced Monday.
Flag has released the video on social media.
“Duke fans, my teammates, my brotherly love and everyone I’ve been with for my journey. It’s been an incredible year, perhaps the best year of my life and I’m so grateful that I always feel so blessed with all the opportunities I’ve been given.
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“Today is just the beginning, but I will be brotherly love with me forever.”
Flagg, the former No. 1 prospect in the 2024 high school class, is considered a banned favorite to be drafted first in the 2025 NBA Draft when reclassified in August 2023.
The 6-foot-9 forward averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists during his sole season with Duke, leading the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record and a final four appearances.
“I’m really proud of Cooper for the special season he’s had this year,” Duke coach John Shayer said. “The praise is that by winning the All National Player of the Year Award for what he did, his highlights, his stats and how he influenced the game on both ends of the floor, it was really off the charts in every category.
“But for me, the joy of coaching Cooper and the separator, coaching, is nothing more than being someone he was a teammate every day, creating statistics and environments and team winning. And we have won a lot of games, lots of success, and often made from the best players.
Flag backed up preseason hype with a strong show during non-conference play, but he really roamed around during the ACC competition in January. He averaged 25.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists from that month, shooting 57.9% from the field and 42.9% from the 3-point range.
His statement performance set the ACC Freshman Records at the point of the game in the game, facing Notre Dame in January, beating Fighting Ireland with 42 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.
Flagg suffered an ankle injury during the ACC tournament, but was formed in the NCAA tournament with a sweet 16 wins at Arizona, including 30 points, six rebounds and seven assists efforts.
He was the Consensus National Player of the Year and became the fourth freshman to win a wooden award.
