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Cooper Flagg’s Estimated Duke Payout Is an Eye-Opener

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Sean Deveney | Last updated Mar 20, 2025 12:41 PM ET

As Duke readies for the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the East Region, with Mount St. Mary's first on the docket, coach Jon Scheyer spoke with The Athletic about building out his roster.

Scheyer's Blue Devils went 31-3 this season and 19-1 in the conference, sweeping their way to a win in the ACC tournament despite missing Cooper Flagg, the superstar freshman who hurt his ankle in the conference tourney opener. Building around Flagg proved to be important--Duke was able to win without him.

“There was a vision that I had for how I wanted us to play, how we could put a team together,” Scheyer said. “You take the things that you really like, and you say, I’m not going to do the things you really don’t like. ... If you can have length, toughness and shooting, that’s a hell of a combo.”

But make no mistake, Flagg's return to the Duke lineup at something close to 100% (he will be active for the opener) will be crucial in the team's national championship aims. Flagg has fit so well at Duke, in fact, that there is talk that he might consider returning for his sophomore year rather than head to the NBA, where he surely would be the No. 1 pick.

With that in mind, longtime sports talker Dan Patrick asked CBS college hoops guru Seth Davis this week an interesting question: How much money, exactly, has Flagg made in his one year at Duke?

Between endorsements and straight payments from the school, Davis estimated the number to be $8 million.

"It’s a great question. If you want transparency, that’s what I’d like to know," Davis said. "I would guess in the neighborhood of $8 million, all-in. He’s probably getting $2 (million) from Duke and their whole collective.

"Cooper Flagg is a unicorn in terms of his marketability, I mean, he has got his own shoe deal. He’s at a Nike signature deal school and he’s got a New Balance deal. My hat’s off to him."

The rookie salary scale in the NBA calls for the No. 1 pick in 2025 to earn $11.5 million, though picks can (and usually do) sign for 20% more than that number. That would put Flagg's NBA payment next season at more than $13.8 million.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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