Cooper Flagg Headlines Duke’s Biggest Recruiting Weekend of the Year

Duke’s Midnight Madness event, Countdown to Craziness, is standing-room only every year. Dating back to when Mike Krzyzewski was the coach, the Duke Faithful, known as the Cameron Crazies, pack Cameron Indoor Stadium for their kickoff to the college basketball season. 

For the most part, it is a night of fun. They are introduced to the players, the head coach talks, and they have a shortened inter-squad scrimmage, among other festivities. However, this night is also known as a big recruiting weekend. 

Duke has traditionally brought in their top recruits for that recruiting cycle to be a part of the fun. This year is no different. While the Blue Devils will not have a big haul in, they will be an important one. 

Cooper Flagg: The latest recruiting intel as a decision nears

The Biggest Weekend of the Year

Cooper Flagg is the player that is drawing all the headlines. Flagg, a 6-foot-9 wing from Bangor, Maine by way of Montverde (FL) Academy, is the No. 1 player in the 2024 recruiting class. He is also the one that NBA Draft experts are saying could be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. 

Flagg is scheduled to take two official visits. He first went to UConn on September 22 weekend. This weekend, at Duke, will be his second official visit. Flagg has been very open about growing up with Duke as his dream school. UConn has made a major push leading up to and since their visit. 

Because of Flagg and the amount of notoriety he brings, this weekend will have a lot of eyes on it. However, Flagg is far from the only draw in town. In total, Duke will have six players on campus. The Duke commitments will join Flagg in Durham. 

Five-star small forward Isaiah Evans, four-star shooting guard Kon Knueppel, and four-star shooting guard Darren Harris are all scheduled to be on campus with Flagg. Duke will also have two other official visitors on campus. 

Official Visits

Four-star center Patrick Ngongba and five-star shooting guard VJ Edgecombe will also be on their official visits. Ngongba was one of two post players that Duke targeted in this class, the other being Flory Bidunga, who committed to Kansas. He is a 6-foot-10 center at Fairfax (VA) Paul VI is the player currently at the top of the recruiting board.

Ngongba, whose mom, Tajama (Abraham) Ngongba, was drafted into the WNBA in 1997, took a big step forward this summer. The four-star averaged 12.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 70.3 percent from the field during Nike’s EYBL Circuit regular season.

This will be Ngongba’s second official visit to Duke. He is also scheduled to take two official visits to UConn and Kansas State. Edgecombe is On3’s No. 4 player in the 2024 On3 150. His recruitment has been keprt relatively close to the vest. The 6-foot-4 Edgecombe has scheduled five official visits. He has taken two, Florida and Baylor, leading into this Duke visit. He has Alabama and Florida State upcoming.

Edgecombe earned New York’s Gatorade State Player of the Year and NIBC League MVP honors after averaging 15.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.1 steals per game. Edgecombe was offered by Duke in July.