How Cooper Flagg effects Duke with his commitment, and vice
Oct 30, 2023, 08:40 AM ET The most anticipated commitment in the 2024 class lastly began Monday, with Cooper Flagg– the best prospect in high school basketball and the heavy favorite to be the No. 1 choice in the 2025 NBA draft– choosing Duke over UConn. The Blue Devils were thought about the most likely destination for Flagg for the majority of his recruitment, although the Huskies made a strong push and closed the gap significantly before Duke finally won him over on his recent check out to Durham.Flagg sealed himself as the best player no matter class during a dominant summer season at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Orlando, Florida, in late June and at the Nike EYBL Peach Jam in July. At the time, he was fighting for the No. 1 spot in the 2025 class with Cameron Boozer, but in August, Flagg announced he was reclassifying into the 2024 class– instantly putting him in position to be the leading NBA pick in 20 months.Flagg has revealed he’s capable of elevating his colleagues with his performances on the grassroots circuit with Maine United while likewise showing he can fit in seamlessly with other elite prospects at Montverde Academy(Florida). The latter is most likely to happen at Duke, however Flagg is an amazing talent who will be the biggest draw in college basketball from the minute he steps onto campus.Jeff Borzello, Myron Medcalf, Paul Biancardi and John Gasaway break down what all of it means.How do Flagg and Duke fit with each other?Editor’s Picks 2 Related You could make a strong case that Mike Krzyzewski and Duke assisted present positionless basketball to the college
landscape
. With Christian Laettner in the early 1990s, Coach K had a 6-foot-11 star who made 49%of his 3-point efforts at a time when players that size mainly messed around the rim. Grant Hill, likewise, was a 6-8 point forward in the early ’90s long before LeBron James reinvented the game. Shane Battier, the 2001 Wooden Award winner, could protect all 5 positions. Marvin Bagley balanced 11.1 RPG during the 2017-18 season and linked on 40 %of his 3-point efforts, an uncommon combo for a 6-11 professional athlete. The following year, Zion Williamson, who was built like an All-American tight end, did whatever he desired on the court and never ever had a true position.Flagg will be the next flexible star for Duke guys’s basketball. Based on team history, he fits completely. The program has enabled numerous players with a varied capability to utilize all of their capabilities.
Jon Scheyer– who was a Duke assistant when Williamson won the Wood Award in 2019– won’t hold Flagg back. He’ll permit him to play the way he wants: above the rim, on the boundary, in area, in shift and anywhere else he desires.The Duke system is developed for Flagg, and vice versa. He simply devoted to a school with a strong performance history of declining to put players like him in a box.– Myron Medcalf How does Flagg’s addition affect the Blue Devils ‘lineup next season?The 2024-25 roster most likely will not be set for another 7 months, however Flagg’s commitment offers Scheyer the country’s most skilled player, an anchor to construct around no matter who else is beside him.
The Blue Devils already had 2 top-25 recruits in the fold in Isaiah Evans and Kon Knueppel, as well as top-50 guard Darren Harris.On the flip side, they have actually four players predicted by ESPN to be taken in the first 31 choices of the 2024 NBA draft. So the essential concern really becomes: Who else does Flagg get to play with him in Durham? Top-five prospect V.J. Edgecombe and five-star huge guy Pat Ngongba went to Duke for Countdown to Madness with Flagg; will his dedication push either of them to pick the Blue Devils? There are plenty of dominoes still to fall, but any roster with Flagg on it has a chance to be unique.– Jeff Borzello Flagg picked Duke over UConn. What’s next for the Huskies, recruiting-wise? Top stories of the week from Get unique access to thousands of premium short articles a year from leading authors. – 2024 NFL mock draft: Who’s QB1?”- Ranking every World Series player” – 12 males’s CBB breakout prospects”
More ESPN+material “Reasonably UConn knew it was playing from behind in this recruiting race. However essentially, there’s no
Fallback when it concerns someone like Flagg.The Huskies currently have 2 extremely strong commitments in their 2024 class: ESPN 100 Ahmad
Nowell and ESPN 100 forward Isaiah Abraham.
They still could use another perimeter scorer with size, though. Freshman Stephon Castle is most likely to be a one-and-done, other newcomers such as Solomon Ball, Jayden Ross and Jaylin Stewart all have possible, and the addition of Nowell and Abraham must definitely help.But it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Dan Hurley struck the portal next spring for one more piece, whether it’s a huge border wing who can drive and facilitate like Castle, a point guard or perhaps maybe another shot maker– comparable to how the Huskies landed Rutgers’Cam Spencer in the spring when they needed a shooter with experience.– Paul Biancardi Including Flagg, how do recruiting results early in the Scheyer period compare to what we saw at the end of Coach K’s run?Duke athletic director Nina King has to be pleased by this remarkably seamless transition from the Coach K days in regards to talent. Flagg is the most recent and maybe most impressive example of this dynamic.Purely in terms of recruiting rankings, in 2015’s Duke class (Dereck Lively II, Dariq Whitehead, Kyle Filipowski, Mark Mitchell and Jaden Schutt)was statistically on par with what Coach K
was carrying out in the mid-2010s, at the peak of the Blue Devils ‘one-and-done period. This year’s class (Jared McCain, Sean Stewart, Caleb Foster and TJ Power)continues that look. And now Flagg’s on his way.Does this type of success in high school recruiting matter as much in the transfer portal age as it did a years earlier? Times modification, however in any period, getting the country’s No. 1
recruit will be an excellent sign. Scheyer has that in Cooper Flagg.– John Gasaway