UCLA Basketball: Expert Thinks Reclassifying Target Could Crash Top Of New Draft

Cooper Flagg reclassified to class of 2024

With the announcement of a top high school player reclassifying to the class of 2024, basketball recruitment strategies have had to be switched. 

Cooper Flagg announced that he will no longer be a part of the 2025 recruiting class, but instead reclassify to 2024. While the question now asks, where will Flagg play next year, experts are already predicting where he will go in the draft. 

The five star prospect has been offered to play for 16 different schools, including UCLA. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Flagg is most likely going to play at Duke, according to On3's prediction system. 

Moving from 2025 to 2024 not only affects the draft that Flagg will go in, but the ones after that. 

Flagg will most likely become the number one high school player in the class of 2024, surpassing Cameron Boozer and Airious Bailey. 

With that being said, Flagg is also looking to highlight the 2025 draft class. If all goes to plan, he will be the biggest name in the draft and will probably go in the top three picks. 

With him moving up a year, the 2026 draft has become significantly weaker. 

ESPN's Johnathan Givony says that now that Flagg is available for 2025, that draft will be better than the next ones coming up.

"The 2025 draft wasn't considered particularly strong prior to today, not all that different from the 2024 draft class, which looks significantly weaker than the previous few years. Flagg gives this group more star power and notoriety despite his unorthodox game that is heavily built around defense and passing as opposed to overwhelming scoring prowess." (Via ESPN)

Only time will tell to see if Flagg will live up to the hype of being the number one overall high schooler in the country. UCLA will also have to up its recruitment efforts if they want the Maine-native in California.