Duke Basketball: Cooper Flagg 'Hype Train' Tops UNC Attraction

The youngest 2024-25 Duke basketball talent has a chance to rival Zion Williamson's one-and-done trophy case.

Duke basketball forward Cooper Flagg / Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

CBS Sports' Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander recently asked over 100 Division I coaches, including assistants, which player will emerge as the best in college hoops next season. More than a third went with Duke basketball rookie Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils' best chance at producing a Naismith Award winner since Zion Williamson snagged all of the national hardware as a 2018-19 freshman sensation in Durham before getting drafted No. 1 overall.

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The 36 percent of coaches favoring the 6-foot-9, 205-pound McDonald's All-American phenom forward from Maine is nearly equal to the combined total between the No. 2 vote-getter, Alabama's Mark Sears with 22 percent, and No. 3 on the list, Kansas' Hunter Dickinson with 16 percent.

UNC's RJ Davis, the reigning ACC Player of the Year, appears No. 4 in the eyes of the anonymous coaches with his 15 percent of the vote.

Here are a few of the anonymous quotes on Cooper Flagg:

• "Has it all. Size, athleticism, competitive spirit, toughness and is surrounded by older guys."

• "He has all the ability and I think his confidence level is super high coming in. Playing against the USA team this summer and not backing down to those guys will give him an extra edge from the start."

• "I'm on board the Cooper Flagg hype train. He's gonna have the ball in his hands, he's gonna have a very long leash and most importantly, he's gonna have the nation's attention on every move. The campaign is going to be loud."

Note that Sears, Dickinson, and Davis are gearing up for their graduate campaigns. Flagg is still four months from being old enough to vote, as the 17-year-old projected one-and-done is the youngest member of the 2024-25 Blue Devils.

As for how Jon Scheyer's third Duke basketball squad stacks up as a collection in the "best team" vote from the same coaches, their 9.6 percent trails only Houston's 13.5 percent, Alabama's 27.9 percent, and No. 1 Kansas' 35.6 percent.

And it's worth pointing out that Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils sit one notch above the 7.7 percent of defending back-to-back UConn.

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