Kentucky G Kerr Kriisa takes shot at Cooper Flagg ahead of Duke matchup

Kerr Kriisa is tired of hearing all the hype about Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. With Kentucky set to face off against Flagg and the Blue Devils on Tuesday evening, Kriisa gave his opponent some bulletin board material.

The No. 1 recruit in the 2024 cycle, Flagg is also projected by most analysts to be the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. However, Kriisa believes that distinction has been given to him too early.

”The whole world is talking about Cooper Flagg,” he said. “Excited to play against the number one draft pick. Congrats to him on that already.”

Flagg has played two college games thus far, leading the Blue Devils to victories against Maine and Army. He is averaging 15.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists early on.

Kriisa, on the other hand, is in his fifth season of college basketball and first at Kentucky. He spent the 2023-24 season at West Virginia, where he averaged 11.0 points and 4.7 assists per game.

Flagg will face the biggest test of his young college career when Duke takes on the No. 23 Wildcats at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday in Atlanta. He’ll look to make Kriisa eat his words and show why there has been so much buzz about him entering the year.

Jay Williams: Cooper Flagg is most exciting player since Zion Williamson in college basketball

Flagg already has college basketball insiders around the nation bought in. Following the Blue Devils’ 100-58 win over Army on Friday, ESPN analyst Jay Williams raved about the first-year standout.

“Special, man,” Williams said. “I’ve seen it since his time at Montverde. He just plays with a different pace and a different type of mentality.

“Cooper Flagg is the most exciting player we’ve had in college basketball since Zion Williamson,” Williams continued. “Now, he may not jump off the page the way Zion Williamson did because of the 360 windmill dunks that Zion is still doing in the league but his versatility [is special].”

Jay Williams wasn’t the only one who had high praise for Flagg.

“His defensive range is ridiculous. His offensive package is unbelievable. He’s a three-level scorer,” college basketball analyst Seth Greenberg said. “But more importantly, he never chases a shot. He makes the game easy for absolutely everyone… We’re going to talk about Cooper Flagg all season long. He is just different.”

On3 Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.