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On both ends of the court and everywhere in between, Duke basketball signee Cooper Flagg is a Grade A menace whose commanding presence stands out in every game he plays. He proved as much again on Friday night, leading Montverde Academy (Fla.) to an 80-50 victory over Oak Hill (Va.) at the Hoophall Classic in Massachusetts.
The 6-foot-9, 200-pound five-star forward, No. 1 overall on the 247Sports 2024 Composite, finished with a game-high 25 points, shooting 10-for-15 from the field, 3-for-6 from three, and 2-for-3 at the foul line. He added nine rebounds, seven assists, two steals, five blocks, and only one turnover across his 26 minutes of action.
Sure, Flagg wowed the crowd with the following slash through the lane and emphatic slam:
But the 17-year-old Maine native's top highlight of the night came in the form of one sequence that showcased his relentless effort, impeccable instincts, underrated strength, otherworldly long arms, and undeniable competitive fire on defense and offense.
Have a look at Flagg delivering one steal, two rebounds, two passes, one save, and one score in a span of 16 seconds:
Cooper Flagg is the headliner of the 2024 Duke basketball recruiting class. That said, the collection consists of three other five-star talents, plus one top-shelf four-star, and could grow to include a few more heralded prospects in Blue Devil targets VJ Edgecombe and Khaman Maluach.
Edgecombe, a Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) five-star guard boasting a No. 5 composite ranking, is set to announce his decision at halftime of Sunday afternoon's Hoophall Classic matchup between Flagg's top-ranked Montverde squad and Prolific Prep (Calif.).
More must-reads:
- Report reveals if Commanders intend to trade WR Terry McLaurin
- Yankees release two-time All-Star pitcher
- The '250-strikeout MLB seasons' quiz
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MSU Loses Out on Five-Star ATH
The Michigan State Spartans have landed 22 commitments in the 2026 recruiting class thus far. If you compare them to other classes, on average, one could see that they are ahead of par. One of the commits that they have landed is Tyren Wortham, who could be argued as one of the better wide receivers in the class when you look at his explosiveness and talent. He flipped to the Spartans from UCF following a successful visit to East Lansing. Georgia and many others were hopeful to land the prospect, while UCF held hope of keeping its diamond out of the hands of other teams. Wortham was just one elite-level wide receiver prospect that Michigan State landed. One of the players the Spartans landed before the commitment of Wortham is in-state wide receiver Samson Gash, the son of former NFL fullback Sam Gash. Samson Gash was targeted by many different coaches in his recruitment, including a late offer he received from the University of Alabama. While that is a trophy offer that anyone would hold high, the Spartans did enough to gain his commitment. While the Spartans have landed a large majority of their targets at the positions they want, it hasn't all been sunshine and rainbows. On Thursday, Michigan State missed out on its top target in the class. The prospect committed to a different school after pushing back his commitment from earlier in the month to the final day of July. That player was Salesi Moa, an elite prospect who recently was bumped up to a five-star 247Sports Composite rating and has solidified his name among the best. He announced his commitment to Tennessee. Moa is ranked the No. 1 class of 2026 prospect in Utah, the No. 2 ATH in his class and the No. 31 overall recruit in his class, per 247Sports Composite. Moa will likely be a two-way player at the next level, with his main position likely to be wide receiver. The prospect is the younger brother of Michigan State transfer Aisea Moa, a redshirt junior linebacker from BYU. Stay up to date on all your Michigan State recruiting and football news when you follow the official Spartan Nation page on Facebook, Spartan Nation, WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and feel free to share your thoughts when you join our community group, Go Green Go White, as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE. Be sure to also like and share our content when you follow us on X @MSUSpartansOnSI.
Five biggest losers from the 2025 MLB trade deadline
The 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline was 6 p.m. ET on Thursday. Some teams managed to get better in either a short-term or long-term outlook. Other teams did not. We've already gone over the five biggest winners, which featured some surprising teams. Here we are focusing on the five teams that were the biggest losers. Minnesota Twins The good news for Twins fans is the team did not trade outfielder Byron Buxton or starting pitcher Joe Ryan. The bad news for Twins fans is the team traded pretty much everybody else. The worst news is the Twins have pretty much sabotaged any goodwill the team had built up in recent years, including their 2023 trip to the American League Division Series. Since then the Twins collapsed late last season, did very little in the offseason and then completely gutted the roster over the past two weeks, including a straight salary-dump trade of Carlos Correa to the Houston Astros, his former team. This is going to be a long, slow climb back to the top. Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates had a chance to have a potentially impactful trade deadline with some intriguing trade chips in what had become a seller's market. They ended up trading closer David Bednar, third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, starting pitcher Bailey Falter and relief pitcher Caleb Ferguson. They held on to pending free agents Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham and Andrew Heaney. What's so baffling about the trades they did make is that they gave up useful, productive players with years of team control still remaining, did not get a single highly-ranked prospect back in return and kept the players that are going to leave for nothing. The only winner here is owner Bob Nutting's bank account for all of the money he saved in the future by dumping Hayes' contract and potential arbitration years from Bednar and Falter. Chicago Cubs After paying a steep price to get outfielder Kyle Tucker in the offseason everybody in Chicago knew the clock was ticking on the Cubs to build a winner around him. He is a free agent after this season and seems determined to hit the open market for the highest bidder. Even though the Cubs have emerged as a contender, it was pretty clear as the season has gone on that they needed at least one more starting pitcher. They did not get one, and instead only added a utility infielder (Willi Castro) and reliever Taylor Rogers. While so many teams around them in the NL managed to get better, it's an underwhelming deadline performance for a team that should be going all in. Atlanta Braves It's not that the Braves did anything poor at the trade deadline that makes them losers. It's that they didn't do ... anything. At least not anything that they needed to do. None of their pending free agents were moved, no significant changes were made to a team going nowhere this season and the only move they did make was a marginal trade involving Rafael Montero. That is extremely underwhelming. Boston Red Sox The Red Sox were rumored to be in the market for a significant starting pitcher, including Minnesota's Joe Ryan. They did not make that sort of splash move, and instead added Steven Matz and Dustin May. For a team trying to hang in the American League playoff race, that is not really exciting. They also paid a steep price to get May, giving up one of the top prospects — outfielder James Tibbs III — they acquired in the Rafael Devers trade to the San Francisco Giants.
Report: Knicks made a signing based on Giannis Antetokounmpo trade belief
The New York Knicks aren't waiting for the offseason drama surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks to end before taking care of a key signing for their roster this summer. Per Shams Charania of ESPN, the Knicks signed Mikal Bridges to a four-year deal worth $150M on Thursday. "New York Knicks forward Mikal Bridges has agreed to a four-year, $150 million contract extension with the franchise, agents Sam Goldfeder and Jordan Gertler of Excel Sports Management tell ESPN," Charania posted on X. "The new deal includes a player option for 2029-30 and a trade kicker." Bridges' extension might not have happened if the Knicks believed they had a serious shot to land an elite player in a trade this summer. Per Ashish Mathur of Hoops Wire, the Knicks made their decision to sign Bridges to a new deal after they learned Antetokounmpo plans to stay in Milwaukee. "The New York Knicks got intel that Giannis Antetokounmpo won’t request a trade from the Milwaukee Bucks before signing Mikal Bridges to an extension, an NBA source told Hoops Wire on Thursday," Mathur wrote. "...The Knicks would have pursued Giannis Antetokounmpo had the two-time MVP requested a trade from the Bucks. All signs point toward Antetokounmpo remaining in Milwaukee." Due to the player option Bridges has in his new deal, the guard cannot be traded for at least six months. Mathur's report signals the reality that New York wants to land another star to pair with Jalen Brunson. However, the Knicks might not make a big splash until the trade deadline next year. The Knicks need a big man who can score and play defense at a high level in the playoffs, something Karl-Anthony Towns was unable to do in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Report reveals if Commanders intend to trade WR Terry McLaurin
In the absence of progress at the negotiating table, Terry McLaurin went public with a trade request on Thursday. The chances of the Commanders dealing him away have long been viewed as low, and that remains the case at this point. A number of teams inquired with Washington about McLaurin prior to the news of his trade request. As Nicki Jhabvala and Dianna Russini of The Athletic report, though, the Commanders informed suitors they have no plans of moving on from the two-time Pro Bowler. The sides remain at an impasse regarding extension talks, so interest on the trade front will no doubt continue until and unless an agreement is reached. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated notes a number of issues (including overall value and guarantees) are yet to be resolved in McLaurin’s case. That differs from, for instance, the case of Trey Hendrickson and the Bengals. The AAV of a new Cincinnati agreement appears to have been hammered out, but the sides are at an impasse with respect to guaranteeing more than the first year of any new pact. It remains to be seen general manager Adam Peters and the Commanders will be willing to reach or surpass $30M per year on a long-term contract. While remarking on the situation, one general manager told Russini they liken this case to that of Haason Reddick from last year. Reddick engaged in lengthy holdout with the Jets while seeking an extension following his trade from the Eagles. In the end, a short-term compromise was made but Reddick’s debut was delayed until Week 8 and he departed in free agency after an underwhelming campaign. Any similar absence through the regular season — something which, to be clear, McLaurin has not yet threatened — would of course be highly detrimental to a Commanders team aiming to duplicate last year’s run to the NFC title game. During a Friday appearance on the "Rich Eisen Show" (video link), NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero said a trade cannot completely be ruled out at this point. The Patriots are known to be a potential suitor in the event Peters’ approach changes and consideration is given to a swap. Such a move would leave Washington with trade acquisition (and pending 2026 free agent) Deebo Samuel atop the WR depth chart. However, the Commanders have a star quarterback on a rookie contract, opening up a clear competitive window for them to build around Jayden Daniels before he commands a market-level salary. That would seem to include investing in a perennial thousand-yard threat like McLaurin — who already has an impressive rapport with his young QB. Coming to an agreement with the soon-to-be 30-year-old feels like an inevitability, whether it be before Week 1 or partway into the regular season.
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