Cooper Flagg is taking his talents to the NBA.
The superstar Duke freshman has announced that he’s foregoing his collegiate eligibility to enter the NBA Draft, where he’s expected to be the number one pick.
Taking to Instagram, Flagg officially announced his highly anticipated next move.
“Duke fans, my teammates, the brotherhood, everybody that was along for the journey. It was an incredible year, probably the best year of my life and I have so much gratitude and I feel so blessed for all the opportunities that I was given,” Flagg said in the video. “Duke has always been a dream for me, but I’m excited to announce that I’ll be entering my name into the 2025 NBA draft.’
“Today is just the beginning, but I have the Brotherhood with me for life.”
Duke coach Jon Scheyer shared a statement lauding Flagg for his many accomplishments.
“Really proud of Cooper for the special season that he had this year,” Scheyer said. “I think the accolades speak for itself, with what he did, winning every National Player of the Year award. His highlights, his statistics, the ways he impacted the game on both ends of the floor, really in every category, was off the charts. As good of a freshman season that a guy has had here.
“But to me, the separator and the joy of coaching Cooper is the person he was every day, the teammate that he was. Never about statistics or anything other than creating an environment and helping his team to win,” Scheyer continued. “And we won a lot of games and had a lot of success and a lot of times that environment is created from your best player. And Cooper did an incredible job in every facet of our program, on and off the court, with what he’s done.”
In an exceptional campaign, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, leading the Blue Devils to a 35-4 record and a Final Four appearance.
One of his biggest games of his collegiate career took place against Notre Dame in January. Flagg scored 42 points, an ACC Freshman record, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists in a victory over the Fighting Irish.
He was the consensus National Player of the Year and became only the fourth freshman to win the prestigious Wooden Award.