Jon Scheyer: Cooper Flagg is a ‘special guy’ on the court

Monday had yet another outstanding outing from Duke’s Cooper Flagg.

Following the 74-64 comeback win over NC State, Jon Scheyer credited the latest performance from Flagg.

“Yeah, I mean, look. Coop is – he’s a special guy, you know,” said Scheyer. “He’s a special guy.”

Flagg finished with 28 points (8/17 FG, 11-13 FT), seven rebounds, three assists, a block, and a steal in the win over the Wolfpack as he scored 23 of those in the second half in turning what was as much as a thirteen-point deficit into a ten-point win.

That’s even more impressive coming off of Flagg’s game in Winston-Salem two days before where he had 24 points (8-16 FG, 7-9 FT), seven rebounds, six assists, and a block.

“He played 39 minutes on Saturday, really carried us throughout. And then you come back and you don’t get, you don’t get to catch your breathe when it’s a Saturday-Monday game. Obviously, we’re going to be in this. We have a bunch, you know, and a couple more situations in ACC play (like this). So, I think it’s a lot of physical prep. It’s a lot of physical contact on him,” said Scheyer. “Just going through it for the first time? He was just – he didn’t have the same pop in the first half. He was just trying to catch his, catch his wind. And then, finally, at halftime, you know, he just got angry. He just had a chip. And sometimes, when you do that, you forget about being tired.”

Again, that second half last night showed Scheyer all of the best of what Flagg is as a player.

“Yeah, I think it’s a combination. You know, I think he’s at his best when he’s having fun and just the purity of it, which I think you saw tonight also. But, but he’s really at his best when there’s a chip, you know, and I thought you definitely saw that,” said Scheyer. “I mean, 23 (points) but, again, he’s passing, he’s rebounding, he’s blocking. That’s the thing to me that nobody else in the country does. You can look at stats up on the screen but his blocks, rebounds, timely plays, to me, is what makes him the best.”

With that, Flagg, the top prospect in the country, is averaging 19.9 points (48.7% FG), 8.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.2 blocks as a freshman. Look at their 10-0 start in the ACC and his stats improve to 23.5 ppg. (56.4% FG), 7.2 rpg., 4.3 apg., 1.2 steals, and a block.

That includes Flagg’s effort against NC State that helped them to their nation-leading fourteenth consecutive win.

“He had some all-time plays in Cameron just to will us back,” said Scheyer. “That’s a credit to his spirit and what he did in that second half.”