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Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg.

Duke Blue Devils

Why Cooper Flagg, Duke could win it all: ‘We have the best player in the country’

Brett Friedlander

By Brett Friedlander

Published:


DURHAM, NC –  Cooper Flagg had just committed his 3rd foul and he wasn’t happy about it.

Not at the official who called it, mind you. 

He was mad at himself.

The Duke star was off to a hot start in the second half after spending a good portion of the first 20 minutes on the bench in foul trouble. And now here he was back in hot water again. 

But instead of playing it safe to avoid a 4th foul and another trip to the bench, Flagg’s competitive instinct took over.

Anticipating a post-entry pass from Pitt’s Jaland Lowe, he flashed in front of Cam Corhen and stole the ball. He then dribbled the length of the floor, took off near the ACC logo in the free throw lane and took out a lot of his frustration with a flush that nearly took defender Guillermo Diaz Graham through the rim with it.

Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer likened the tomahawk dunk, which nearly blew the roof off Cameron Indoor Stadium, to one of former star Zion Williamson’s signature slams.

The look of disbelief on teammate Sion James’ face as he reacted to the play was an even more powerful statement on both the quality and the impact of the play, which served as a springboard to third-ranked Duke’s emphatic 76-47 victory against what might very well be the ACC’s second-best team.

“He shows me something different every day,” James said afterward. “The kid is incredible.”

https://twitter.com/lawdavis13/status/1876802802443227437

James wasn’t exaggerating in his description of the nation’s top freshman.

Just 1 game later, Flagg reached back into his deep bag of tricks and showed off another element of his continued growth by pulling out another new element of his vast skill set.

Dominance.

The 6-9 teenager, who just turned 18 last month, set an ACC freshman record with 42 points (on 11-of-14 shooting, 4-of-6 3-pointers and 16-of-17 free throws) in an 86-78 win against Notre Dame on Saturday. If that wasn’t enough, he also had 6 rebounds, a team-leading 7 assists and a steal in a performance that illustrates why he’s projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft this spring.

As impressive as his ability to stuff a stat sheet might be, and it is impressive, that’s not even close to being the most meaningful contribution to Duke’s quest to raise a national championship banner to the rafters for the first time in a decade.

It’s the fire he displayed during and after that memorable dunk-inspired sequence against Pitt.

“There are a lot of attributes he has. But to me, the most unique one is how competitive he is,” Panthers coach Jeff Capel, a former Blue Devil, said after the game. “You rarely see that, especially from a young guy. 

“In my opinion, that’s what makes this Duke team different from last year’s. When your best player is like that, it permeates through the whole team.”

While Flagg’s flashy dunk against Pitt and high-scoring heroics against Notre Dame have lit up social media over the past week, there’s much more to his game than just SportsCenter highlights. He’s fundamentally sound, unselfish, well-rounded and incredibly grounded considering his celebrity,

And his age.

He’s 3rd in the ACC in scoring at 19.1 points per game, 4th in rebounding at 8.3 and among the league’s top 10 in assists (3.9), field-goal percentage (.479) and steals 1.6. On Monday, he was named both the ACC’s Player and Rookie of the Week. It’s the second straight week and the third time this season he’s swept both awards.

“He loves being in the moment, being in the arena. But he’s got an edge to him now,” Scheyer said. “He doesn’t hunt numbers. He does it because the game comes to him. He does it the right way. For me, when we step on the floor, we have the best player in the country. And that’s a big deal.”

Flagg is clearly the Blue Devils’ best player and perhaps the best player in all of college basketball this season. He’s the overwhelming favorite to be the ACC’s Player of the Year. But he has help. He’s surrounded by a talented, well-balanced and young supporting cast.

Because Duke’s core is so inexperienced – with fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach also among the starting 5 – it took some time for it to figure things out and hit its stride. And Scheyer didn’t baby it along by loading up on an early diet of cupcakes.

The 3rd-year coach challenged his team by playing Kentucky and Kansas in neutral-site games and taking Duke on the road to play Arizona.

While the difficult schedule led to a pair of close losses, it helped to toughen up the Blue Devils and give all their young players – especially Flagg – a taste of what it takes to win at the highest level. 

They’re lessons that began to pay off in a gritty win against now-No. 1 Auburn in December. And will continue to make a difference as Duke keeps inching toward its ceiling in anticipation of a deep run into March and April.

Brett Friedlander

Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.

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