Jon Scheyer officially welcomes Cooper Flagg to Duke
Duke basketball was lucky enough to land one of the most celebrated recruits in recent memory, when they landed Cooper Flagg. He’s ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect in the country for the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.
Flagg has been virtually unstoppable the past few years. He’s stuffed the stat sheet with dominant numbers–he averaged 20.5 points, 10 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals, and 3.7 blocks his freshman year for Nokomis Regional. Those numbers were good enough to land him Gatorade Player of the Year honors in the state of Maine–making him the only freshman to ever earn the honor in Maine.
Flagg officially signed with the Blue Devils on November 8th. And on Thursday evening, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer officially welcomed the five-star talent to his new team.
Check out the post from the Blue Devils’ Twitter page.
“We’re really excited to welcome Cooper Flagg to the Brotherhood. It’s been an honor for me to get to know Cooper for some time now as a person. It speaks for itself who he is as a player. The competitor that he is, his incredible versatility. On the defensive end, his ability to block shots. To defend one through five. And on the offensive end, to really score, pass, handle. Whatever you need him to do, he can,” Scheyer said.
“He’s a special player. He’s a special talent. But for me, the person that he is. The type of teammate that he is. You know, he played for his local team in AAU, Maine United, and brought them to the Peach Jam Championship for 16U. And he’s gonna bring an incredible competitiveness, toughness, to our program that I can’t wait to coach. And he’s gonna be such a special addition to our program,” Scheyer said in the video released on Thursday evening.
Flagg’s mother was a team captain at Maine when the Black Bears won its only NCAA Tournament game in program history.
Flagg currently has an On3 NIL Valuation of $893,000 — second among high school basketball players behind Bryce James. The On3 NIL Valuation is the industry’s leading index that sets high school and college athletes’ projected annual value (PAV). The NIL valuation does not act as a tracker of the value of NIL deals an athlete has completed to date. It rather signifies an athlete’s value at a certain moment in time.
Cooper Flagg Player Archetype
On3 National Recruiting Analyst Jamie Shaw wrote this about Flagg as a prospect:
“Since first talking about Cooper Flagg among the top high school prospects, back in June of 2022, the name we continued to come back to is Andrei Kirilenko. When you watch Flagg, you can see shades of Kirilenko in his game. While Flagg’s offensive game continues to expand and become more efficient, he possesses game-changing defensive attributes.
“In his prime, Kirilenko was a solid free throw shooter and a 30-plus percent three-point shooter. He scored in an efficient manner, taking advantage of opportune moments his motor, athleticism, and IQ created. Flagg, like Kirilenko, is an efficient offensive player. He stays within himself, finding open spaces in the half-court, and is a good off-ball cutter.
“The question with Flagg continues to be his jump shooting, and that is something that continues to sharpen. Over his last 50 games played, high school and travel ball, Flagg shot 35.4 percent from three on 2.9 attempts. While he is polished in the mid-range, extending his range while shooting off movement is an area he is continuing to develop.
“Flagg is showing comfort on the ball, initiating the offense from different levels of the floor, and getting to his spots in the half-court. He knows his comfort areas and gets there within two and three dribbles, possessing a confident array of go-tos and counters in the mid-to-high post.
“Kirilenko was an all-star in 2004. He was twice named NBA All-Defense first-team, and the 6-foot-9 wing was always among the NBA’s leading shot blockers. While this is not a one-to-one comparison, Flagg’s game continues to grow. Flagg’s ability on defense is truly unique, with the ability to dictate the flow of play from that end.
“A look across the landscape of today’s NBA, and you see the value of having game-changing wings. Ten of the top 20 paid players in the NBA are wings. Whether it is the play-making wing or the two-way wing, many of the NBA’s best teams are anchored from the wing position. And while Flagg is still defining his exact player archetype, he certainly fits the direction basketball is heading.”
On3’s Jamie Shaw and Colin Ginnan also contributed to this article.