Former Duke Basketball Star Talks to Blue Devil Target Cooper Flagg

Duke basketball product RJ Barrett may have helped Jon Scheyer's chances in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes.

New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett, the highest-scoring Duke basketball freshman in history (860 points), was back at his prep school alma mater, powerhouse Montverde Academy (Fla.), on Monday.

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Recruiting insider Adam Zagoria noted that Barrett, who recently helped Team Canada win bronze at the FIBA World Cup and is entering his fifth year as a full-time Knicks starter since going No. 3 overall following his one-and-done Duke basketball campaign, was there "to impart some wisdom to Cooper Flagg and his teammates."

Judging by the pictures Montverde Academy posted on Monday evening, the 23-year-old Barrett, who arrived in Durham at No. 1 overall on the 247Sports 2018 Composite, got a chance to compete against the 16-year-old Flagg, No. 1 overall in 2024, and talk to him one-on-one.

Perhaps he put in a good word for second-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer, an assistant when Barrett was in college. After all, Barrett's 22.6 points per game as an 18-year-old show that a rookie can lead the Blue Devils in scoring, which has been the case in six of the past seven seasons.

His commitment to Duke was the first of three by Montverde players since 2018. The other two are 2022-23 Blue Devil one-and-done Dariq Whitehead, now gearing up for his rookie year with the Brooklyn Nets, plus a current freshman under Scheyer in five-star power forward Sean Stewart.

And it's worth noting that Cooper Flagg, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound phenom forward and projected one-and-done lottery pick who will take an official visit with the Blue Devils the same weekend as Countdown to Craziness in mid-October, grew up a Duke basketball enthusiast.

That undoubtedly included being a fan of RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, and friends in 2018-19.

Flagg hasn't named finalists or specified a decision timeline. Some insiders project him to announce a winner sometime between his visit to Duke and the early signing period in November. However, others have indicated that the high-profile race may continue well into the season.

Meanwhile, his upcoming official visits to UConn (this weekend), Kansas (Oct. 6-8), and Duke (Oct. 20-22) suggest those three are bonafide contenders, with the 247Sports Crystal Ball, Rivals FutureCast, and On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine currently pegging Scheyer's Blue Devils as the team to beat in his recruitment.

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball recruiting news.