Pitt HC Speaks on Duke Star Cooper Flagg

Pitt Panthers head coach spoke on Duke rising star Cooper Flagg.

Jan 4, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Duke Blue Devils guard Cooper Flagg (2) controls the ball during the first half against the Southern Methodist Mustangs at Moody Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers will go up against one of the best players in the country when they travel to face No. 4 Duke in Durham, N.C. on Jan. 7.

Cooper Flagg is one of the best players in the country, even as a freshman for the Blue Devils. The 6-foot-9 forward hails from Newport, Me. and played for Nokomis High School, before transferring to powerhouse Montverde Academy in Montverde, Fla., reclassifying into the Class of 2024 and graduating from high school a year early.

He would continue building hype and earned the No. 1 ranking in the Class of 2024 from 247Sports, Rivals, On3 and ESPN. He also earned Gataorade National Player of the Year, Mr. Basketball USA and Naismith Prep Player of the Year honors, while making the McDonald's All-American Team and both the Jordan Brand Hoop Classic and Nike Hoop Summit.

Flagg has played in all 14 games for Duke and helped them to a 12-2 record and 4-0 in the ACC.

He is averaging 17.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks per game in 30.8 minutes per contest. He is also shooting 44.7% from the field, 30.0% from 3-point range and 78.7% from the foul line this season.

Flagg has served as one of the best players in the ACC too, ranking No. 4 in rebounds per game, No. 7 in blocks per game, tied for No. 7 in points per game, No. 9 in steals, tied for No. 10 in assists per game, No. 11 in field goal percentage, No. 15 in free throw percentage and No. 16 with a 1.6 assist/turnover ratio.

He's also earned ACC Player of the Week honors twice and ACC Rookie of the Week honors five times this season.

Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, who played at Duke from 1993-97 and served as an assistant/associate head coach under previous Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski from 2011-18, knows the great talent that they possess every year, particularly with their freshman.

He said in his weekly zoom press conference that Duke has gotten some of the best players in the country for almost four decades, especially under Krzyzewski, and it has continued under head coach Jon Scheyer, as they've landed a spectacular player in Flagg.

Capel also loves how Flagg plays basketball and especially his dynicism in so many areas of the game, that make him so hard of a player to account ofr.

"Yeah I don’t know if it’s possible," Capel said. "Just because he’s so dynamic in a lot of different areas. Obviously, I had heard a lot about him, I saw him a little bit in high school, but I had not watched Duke a lot until after we played Stanford. So I hadn’t really seen him a lot this year. I’ve watched him a lot since Saturday evening and just super impressed, man, with how he plays. 

"He’s so competitive. He has a competitive toughness, a competitive urgency. He’s a great rebounder, he can score. I think the thing I’ve probably been most impressed with is his passing. He can really pass and he has such a good feel as a basketball player on both ends. I think he’s elite defensively, elite offensively. You got to just try and match his competitive spirit and try and make things tough for him and hopefully, he misses some."

The one thing that Capel likes the most about Flagg is his competitiveness and that it makes him someone that everyone on a team wants to play with. He also compared Flagg to Blake Griffin, who starred under Capel at Oklahoma and had a productive career in the NBA.

"He is so competitive. Very rarely do you see, especially a young guy, a freshman, that plays that hard and is that competitive on both sides of the ball," Capel said. "I mean that’s rare, on top of all the skill, and I think that’s what makes him so unique and why everyone is so excited about him because you can kind of see it’s gone to the whole team. He just seems like a kid who just loves to compete and loves to play every possession.

Duke had the best recruiting class in the country in 2024, with three other five-stars in center Khaman Maluach and forwards in Isaiah Evans and Jon Knueppel, plus two four-stars in center Patrick Ngonga II and forward Damien Harris.

Capel gave credit to Scheyer for constructing his roster with great freshman and how he's allowed them to benefit the team as a whole with their talents and production so far this season.

"When you have unique talent, and that’s what they’ve been able to get is unique talent, and then what John has done, the same way Coach K did, is he’s allowed that talent to have freedom, within structure, and allowed that talent to be unique. The guys who are unique, he’s allowed them and encouraged them and created an environment where they can be unique and when you do that, then you have a chance to have something special."

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