Three days out from his highlight-reel scrimmages with the USA men’s basketball team, Cooper Flagg is still sending shockwaves through the media landscape.
On Thursday, ESPN analysts Seth Greenberg and Harry Douglas of morning show Get Up marveled at Flagg’s performance with the USA Select Team, repeatedly calling the Newport native a “generational talent” and a “bad dude.”
“Next year America, you’re going to listen [to] and see him every single night on SportsCenter, on Get Up, on First Take,” former Virginia Tech head coach Greenberg said. “He’s a three level scorer that can play in the post with great footwork and shoot the three. The dude is a generational talent.”
Greenberg and Douglas agreed that Flagg could help rejuvenate college basketball viewership, and is the top prospect since fellow Duke Blue Devil and two-time NBA All-Star Zion Williamson, who has played for the New Orleans Pelicans since 2019.
According to data from sportsmediawatch.com, the five least watched men’s March Madness tournaments have all occurred since 2018.
In both 2023 and 2024, the men’s Final Four and national championship games failed to eclipse 40 million total viewers, which had not happened since 1975.
“He’s cool, calm and collected. The moment’s not too big for him — that boy bad,” Douglas said. “Cooper Flagg is what NCAA men’s basketball needs. They need that staple player. [He] is something that has been missing since Zion Williamson.”
