Dick Vitale puts Cooper Flagg among NBA legends, best he's seen at 18

Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg has been showered with praise ever since his high school days, when he was touted as the No. 1 overall prospect in America. College basketball analysts across the country have continued their praise of the uber-talented freshman in his freshman year at Duke, where he he’s lived up to lofty expectations. On Saturday night in the Duke-Clemson game, ESPN’s Dick Vitale once again raved about Cooper Flagg, putting him in a special class, and among one of the best players he’s ever seen at the age of 18.

“There’s only three players in my 45 years that I’ve seen in person that match the skills that he has at such a young age. And I’m not saying that he’s gonna be one of these three. But I’m going off who I’ve seen in person. I’ve seen in person, Kobe Bryant, I did one of his games. I’ve seen in person, LeBron James. I saw Magic Johnson at a holiday tournament, trying to recruit him. But I had no shot. When you look at those three guys, that’s 18 year olds just like him. They all were able to do everything that he does,” Vitale explained on the broadcast.

Then, the legendary broadcaster was quick to clarify his statement.

“[Some people might say] that I’m saying he’s going to be Magic [Johnson]. I’m not saying that. I’m not saying that he’s going to be LeBron. We don’t know yet. I’m talking about at 18,” Vitale clarified.

Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils fall to Clemson

While Flagg hit some big shots late for the Blue Devils, they came up short on Saturday, losing 77-71.

Duke was the lone undefeated team remaining in the ACC. Talks of getting throughout the conference slate without a blemish were certainly there, winning the first 12. However, Clemson put an end to any of it with a massive upset of the Blue Devils from Littlejohn Coliseum.

This game had serious ACC regular season title implications as well. Clemson currently has two conference losses on the resume and falling three games behind Duke might be a mountain too big to climb. Earning the win now means the Tigers, along with the likes of Louisville, will be able to compete for a championship down the stretch.

Scoring from the starting lineup is how Clemson wound up pulling off the upset. Four of the five starters finished in double figures, as Viktor Lakhin led the way with 22 points on 9-12 shooting. The three-point shot was not where a lot of scoring came from Brad Brownell‘s squad, only attempting 10 from deep.

Efficiency inside the arc was the name of the game, shooting 63.4.8% on two-point shots.

Clemson had a huge advantage on the glass too, finishing +11 over Duke. Eleven offensive rebounds were massive and led to multiple second-chance points. Without them, Clemson is not in the game and heading home in a sour mood.

With just under 20 seconds remaining in the game, Duke did have a possession to potentially tie or take the lead. Jon Scheyer put the ball in the hands of Cooper Flagg, unsurprisingly. Flagg was attempting to get downhill but wound up slipping on the court. He was called for a travel, essentially putting the game to bed. Certainly a tough way to lose a game for Flagg and Duke.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh also contributed to this article.