Where does Cooper Flagg rank among Duke’s 1-and-done stars? Is he the Blue Devils’ best ever?
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SAN ANTONIO – Duke might someday raise a sixth national championship banner to the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium.
There just won’t be a Flagg flying when or if it happens.
Barring an unlikely turn of events in the next few days, Cooper Flagg’s expected 1-and-done career with the Blue Devils came to a premature end on Saturday with a stunning 70-67 loss to Houston in the national semifinals at Alamodome.
The immediate image of Flagg’s final shot clanging off the front of the rim in the final seconds to seal the Blue Devils’ fate will eventually be erased by the lasting legacy of an award-winning season that managed to live up to – and maybe even exceed – expectations that at one time seemed unrealistic.
Even though the wound of coming so close to the national championship without having anything to show for it is still painfully fresh, it’s never too soon to put Flagg’s performance into perspective and evaluate his place in Duke basketball‘s storied history.
The projected No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA Draft has been called a unicorn, a 1-of-1, a generational talent and any number of other superlatives on his way to winning the Wooden Award as the nation’s top college player.
But it would be unfair to judge him against Christian Laettner, JJ Redick, Jay Williams and others who spent an entire career with the Blue Devils, growing and improving with each season until they became finished products.
A much more accurate pursuit would be determining his place among the Who’s Who of Duke’s previous 1-and-done stars.
Specifically, Zion Williamson, who like Flagg generated widespread media hype, stuffed stat sheets, overcame a foot injury and earned an ACC championship ring, but fell short of carrying his team to a national title.
Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft, was a much more charismatic personality, to the point that ESPN eventually introduced a dedicated “Zion Cam” to follow his every movement both on the court and on the bench.
He put up slightly better numbers in 2019, averaging 22.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while shooting 68% from the floor compared to Flagg’s 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 48% accuracy. But Flagg is a much more polished talent at this point in his career. And he’s just as likely to make SportsCenter’s top 10 with a pass, steal or rebound as he is with a rim-shaking dunk.
And while, like Williamson, Flagg wasn’t able to help the Blue Devils raise that sixth banner, he at least got them to a Final Four before falling short. Duke was eliminated 1 round earlier, by Michigan State in the Elite Eight, in 2019.
The other factor that sets Flagg apart, not just from Williamson but previous 1-and-done standouts including fellow No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero in 2022, ACC Player of the Year Marvin Bagley III in 2018 and 2015 national champion Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker in 2014 and Brandon Ingram in 2016, is his impact on the direction of the program.
As the first great player of the post-Coach K era, his contribution to Jon Scheyer’s first Final Four has served as a bridge between the past and future of Duke basketball and is a tangible sign that the seamless transition from old to new is nearly complete.
And he’s done it as a teenager who would still be in high school if he hadn’t reclassified and arrived at Duke a year early.
“To have the season he’s had, how hard he plays, the highlights … all those things speak for themselves,” Scheyer said. “His energy is contagious for our team. He’s an amazing leader. Everything he does has taken our program to a new height this year.”
Just not to the highest rung on the ladder from which the national championship nets will be cut down on Monday.
That omission from his résumé is fodder for another debate.
Was the best 1-and-done player in Duke history a member of the best Blue Devils’ team not to win a national title?
A case can be made, considering their 35-4 record, their nation’s best plus-21 scoring margin and their ACC-record 19 conference victories. Not to mention the quality of talent surrounding Flagg.
Classmates Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach will also be first-round NBA picks. Maybe even lottery picks. And the role players were experienced, competent and steady. That is until the final 10 minutes of Saturday’s loss to Houston, in which they squandered a 14-point lead and a chance to enter the discussion as the best Duke team, period.
As good as these Blue Devils were, they still only come in a close second in the disappointment rankings to Mike Krzyzewski’s 1999 team that went 37-1 before losing on the final possession of the national championship game to UConn.
Now, as then, Duke came home from the Final Four without a banner to hang from the rafters of its venerable home court. But at least this time, they had a Flagg to commemorate the occasion.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
