Jon Scheyer describes what will separate Cooper Flagg as a freshman

Paolo Banchero, Vernon Carey Jr., Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Marvin Bagley III, Jayson Tatum, Brandon Ingram, Jahlil Okafor, Jabari Parker — the list of phenomenal Duke men’s basketball freshmen in the last decade goes on.

Another, and maybe the best of the bunch, is on his way.

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The Blue Devils are expecting Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 class, to deliver like the first-year stars in Cameron Indoor before him.

“We would absolutely have that expectation with Cooper,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said on “College Hoops Today with Jon Rothstein” this week. “And the thing is, that’s what we do on a yearly basis. I’m used to playing freshmen. It’s the world I live in. Cooper belongs at Duke because he’s not afraid of the spotlight and the expectations, but he also doesn’t play to them.”

Although Scheyer knows Flagg can produce like his predecessors, the third-year Blue Devils frontman believes his new wing is one of a kind.

“That’s the cool part with him, because I don’t think he’s like anybody,” Scheyer said on Rothstein’s podcast. “I think he’s got some different parts of different guys, but I think Cooper’s his own person, his own player, which is fun for me to try to figure out with him, because I don’t think it’s just like one other guy.”

Flagg was a unanimous five-star prospect and the top recruit in the 2024 cycle, despite reclassifying and entering the college ranks a year early.

The Newport, Maine, native finished his high school career at Montverde Academy in Florida, where he became the Gatorade National Player of the Year, the Naismith Player of the Year and a McDonald’s All-American as a senior. In the process, the 6-foot-9, 205-pound Flagg averaged 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.7 blocks per game en route to a national title.

“The biggest thing with him is he just competes,” Scheyer said on Rothstein’s podcast. “When you’re 17 years old, playing the highest level of college basketball right away, it makes it a huge adjustment if you don’t know how to compete, and Cooper [competes] right away. And then, not to mention, his feel. He’s just got great feel.

“He can play any position, he can guard anybody. And the thing that I love the most is just the humility that he has. Not only can you coach him, he wants you to coach him at the highest level to make him better every single day. So I know as good as he’ll be to start the year, he’ll be even better as the year goes on as he gets more at-bats during the season.”

Flagg is used to playing up in age, and thriving along the way. While starring for Nokomis Regional High School, he became the first freshman to earn Maine Gatorade Player of the Year honors.

Flash forward to this summer, and he was the only teenager and collegiate player among 15 athletes named to the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team. Actually, he was the first collegian since 2013 training with the USA Basketball Men’s National Team as they got ready for the Paris Olympic Games.

“He’s really gonna make history,” Scheyer said. “I mean to be 17 years old for the first half of the season. He’s in college a year early, and that’s gonna be a tall task. There’ll be moments where he has to adjust and gets knocked back. But that’s what this whole thing is for, and he’s wired for it.

“He’s made to play [at Duke], but he’s also made to play on the biggest stage, and he’s going to be terrific for us.”