Jon Scheyer goes in depth on relationship with Cooper Flagg, ability to challenge him

Jon Scheyer has built a special relationship with Duke star Cooper Flagg during the forward’s first season with the Blue Devils, and it’s led to tremendous success throughout the 2024-25 campaign.

Flagg’s continued his magnificent season on Monday, as Duke completed a 74-64 comeback win over NC State. Speaking with the media afterwards, the Blue Devils coach elaborated on his connection with Flagg, and how he’s been able to challenge his star player in a healthy way throughout their crusade.

“I could go on all day about Cooper,” Scheyer told the media, regarding Flagg. “How coachable he is. You know, he never fights coaching. There’s maybe a few times throughout the year, he’s not going to like everything you say. I don’t expect anybody to agree in the moment or like everything you say. But just in that second time out, I just — I challenged him, because his game is not just about scoring. His game is about impacting winning in every facet. And he knew it. You know, I told him, and he knew it right away. Credit to him for responding.

“A lot of guys will fight it. A lot of guys will not acknowledge it. It’s a credit to him, and the relationship he’s allowed us to develop, just by telling each other the truth.”

All told, 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,” added 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.”

It’s easy to see why Scheyer has been overjoyed with Flagg, as he’s 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.

Moving forward, Jon Scheyer knows Duke will go as far as Cooper Flagg can take them, and he’s ready to go to war with his top player: “Coop is – he’s a special guy, you know,” proclaimed the Duke leader. “He’s a special guy.”

— On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.