Jan 11, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) reacts during the second half against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Legendary Duke coach gave highest praise to future Maverick Cooper Flagg

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Jun 4, 2025 7:00 AM ET

It is exactly three weeks until Cooper Flagg can officially become a Dallas Maverick. Those three weeks will pass by slowly with bad trade mock-ups and speculation the Mavericks may look elsewhere, but all signs point to Flagg being a Mav on June 25th.

Flagg is as highly touted of a prospect as we've seen in recent memory. Victor Wembanyama is probably the only prospect since Anthony Davis who came with a higher pedigree, but Wemby is a 7'5" demigod.

Although he didn't get the chance to coach him, former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was still tuned in for most games this season, and he's seen just about every talented prospect that's ever come through Duke. He put Flagg in some high regard in an interview during the Final Four in April.

"Grant [Hill] is the best player to ever play at Duke, [Christian] Laettner is the most accomplished, and we've had great, great players. Cooper... is definitely the best Freshman that has ever played... He's great and has been given that role [as a leader] and he's exceeded it. He's a great, great player, and really has an amazing future. I work for the NBA now and I was just at our board of governors meeting. One of the talks I had with a couple owners was that we need to have more American stars. We have a lot of international stars... Cooper can be that... His future will be incredible."

"Grant (Hill) is the best player to ever play at Duke, Laettner is the most accomplished...Cooper is definitely the best Freshman that has ever played."

Coach K talks to @DustyDvoracek & @dannykanell about how special Cooper Flagg's game is.

https://t.co/YgNNO9W71f @DukeMBB pic.twitter.com/E4DWlisl0I
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) April 4, 2025

Duke has had a lot of incredible freshmen. Zion Williamson, like Flagg, won National Player of the Year awards as a freshman, Jayson Tatum was a top-three pick, Paolo Banchero was a first-overall pick, Marvin Bagley III was selected ahead of Luka Doncic, Jabari Parker and Brandon Ingram were both second overall selections, and Kyrie Irving was the top pick despite playing 11 games in college. To put Cooper Flagg above all of them is impressive territory.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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