Cooper Flagg has recently announced his commitment to the Duke Blue Devils. The 6-foot-9 forward is considered by some scouts the best prospect in the entire world regardless of age. Is he actually the best prospect in the world? Maybe, but regardless of whether someone believes he is or isn’t, he’s still a really special prospect and should be treated as such. Let’s dive into what the Duke Blue Devils are getting out of the elite recruit.
Flagg is the consensus number one prospect in the senior class after reclassifying. The Maine native plays for Montverde Academy and will look to help lead his team to a GEICO National Championship at the end of the season. After falling short of a championship in his first year for Monteverde during his sophomore year, he’ll be looking for revenge all season long in his final year of high school. In AAU this past season, he looked a lot more polished offensively, particularly as a scorer.
Flagg is a three-level scoring forward that has real secondary playmaking ability and a great feel for the game. The combination of his size, length and ball-handling fluidity makes him a major mismatch problem on the offensive end. As of right now he’s at his best as a slasher due to his size, touch inside the painted area and ability to play through contact. He has shown real progress as a shot-maker and as a spot-up shooter. If the 3-point jumper becomes consistent then we could be talking about a special offensive prospect.
As stated above, Flagg has some special tools to work with on the offensive end but crazy enough, his defensive upside is far higher than his offensive upside. The 6-foot-9 forward is the best defensive prospect in the world due to his elite rim protection, defensive versatility and high defensive IQ. His ability to defend up and down a lineup at his size is extremely unique and he brings a lot of different elite qualities on the defensive end which combined together makes him an elite prospect on that end. Some of the defensive highlights he makes are ridiculous.
The Duke Blue Devils are getting an elite two-way prospect and the projected number one pick in the 2025 NBA Draft which will add the great talent Duke has produced over the last decade. If Flagg is able to live up to the hype and prove to the world that he’s the best prospect in the world at the biggest basketball program in the country, then the hype will begin to reach extremely high levels. It’s an exciting time for Duke and college basketball fans to see the potential top pick play college basketball.
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