SAN ANTONIO — Cooper Flagg and his Duke teammates were days away from clinching a spot in the Final Four, and the Blue Devils’ freshman star was planning ahead.
It wasn’t about anything on the court, though. It was to be ready the next time teammates Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba broke out water guns at the cold tubs.
“I’m definitely ordering one as well,” Flagg said with a grin, a nod to the fact that he’s still “just being a kid.”
Maybe so, but the the 18-year-old’s game has been far more advanced than his age from the opening tip of his college debut. Scoring. Rebounding. Setting up teammates as a playmaker, then aiding them as a defender. He did it all amid high expectations as the potential No. 1 overall NBA draft prospect, the driving force with a relentless competitive edge and mature focus for a team now two wins from a national championship.
It is why Flagg was named The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year on Friday, becoming only the fourth freshman to win the award in its 64-year history.
The 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Newport, Maine, won a two-man race with Auburn star Johni Broome. Both players were unanimous first-team AP All-Americans with teams at the Final Four, and they were the only two to receive player-of-the-year votes, Flagging 41 of the 61.
Flagg joins Duke’s Zion Williamson (2019), Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2012) and Texas star Kevin Durant (2007) as freshman winners. Each went either No. 1 or No. 2 overall in the NBA draft a few months later. Flagg is the eighth Duke player to win the award, most of any program.
“He plays so hard, he’s competitive, a great teammate,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the Blue Devils’ home finale, “and obviously his ability is special.”
‘High standard, high expectations’
Flagg was just 17 when he arrived at Duke after reclassifying to graduate early from high school. Yet he has exceeded all hype as the nation’s top-ranked recruit, with Flagg leading Duke in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.2) and steals (1.4) while ranking second in blocks (1.3) entering Saturday’s national semifinal against Houston.
“I hold myself to a high standard, high expectations,” Flagg told the AP. “Just because I know how much work I’ve put in and how many hours I’ve spent grinding and putting that work in. … It’s those expectations of just trusting what you do and just doing it to the highest level.”
And he repeatedly did that.
He scored an Atlantic Coast Conference freshman-record 42 points against Notre Dame. There was his highlight-reel transition dunk against Pittsburgh. The big game to help the Blue Devils beat Broome’s Tigers, along with going for 30 points in an NCAA Sweet 16 win against Arizona that Scheyer called “one of the best tournament performances I’ve ever coached or been a part of.”
Cohesive play is the hallmark of this Blue Devils team, the only one ranked in KenPom’s top five for both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.
It has offered ways for Flagg to improve in his first and possibly lone college season as he learned “the level of the details” required to thrive. It was ensuring he got in for pre-practice recovery sessions. Or listening when graduate transfer Mason Gillis and junior Tyrese Proctor pushed the importance of sleep, prompting Flagg to nix a high-school habit of late-night phone scrolling.
“As far as outside expectations, I couldn’t really care less,” Flagg said. “For me, it’s more about following the expectations of my teammates, my coaches, my family. Everybody’s human so I’m going to make mistakes. I’m not going to be at my best all the time.
“But that’s what having great teammates and great coaches does for you. They just always have my back and are always there for me.”
Support within reach
His mother, Kelly, almost envies how her son handles that.
“I think he sees it but he really doesn’t let it bother him,” she told the AP. “And I wish I was more like that. He’s so comfortable with who he is, and he’s always been that way. That’s why he doesn’t get rattled easily, because he believes in himself and it doesn’t really matter to him what other people think.
“That’s a special ability to be able to drown out the noise when the noise can be overwhelming at times for somebody like him. I’m really proud of him for being able to do that.”
She and husband Ralph have kept a close eye on how he’s been doing after moving to North Carolina for this year while Ace, Cooper’s twin brother, completes his final season of high school basketball in Greensboro, an hour away. Flagg said it helped to have family close, including when he visited for a few days around Christmas and got multiple days in the gym with his father and brothers.
“When you are able to step back and just take a break, it can be really good to just get your mind clear and kind of refocus,” he said.
It showed up on the court, notably as he elevated his scoring (20.1 points, up from 16.9), assists (4.5, up from 3.7), shooting percentage (51%, up from 43.8%) and 3-point percentage (.434, up from 27.1) after Jan. 1.
Indeed, Flagg seems wired for big moments when the stakes rise, something his mother has seen going back to his childhood. There was his hatred of losing from early on, such as demanding to keep playing after losing in a driveway game of H-O-R-S-E with Kelly — who played in college at Maine — or a board game like Trouble.
He always wanted to be first to do anything even when it seemed a bit much, such as the family working with eldest brother Hunter to ride a bike without training wheels — only to have the then-3 Cooper announce “I can do it, Momma” and back it up.
When it came to basketball, he tested his parents’ nerves by constantly dribbling on the hardwood floors at home. But success came quickly, too, with whispers soon spreading around Maine about the prodigy playing up several grade levels.
“When he was younger, if somebody stole the ball from him or he turned it over or got fouled or did something (wrong), we would say it was a 50/50 shot whether he was going to pick up a crazy foul or he was going to do something spectacular,” Kelly said. “And as he’s gotten older, it was more the chances of something really good was about to happen.”
Savoring this moment
Flagg noted multiple times how much he has enjoyed Duke. He has talked about making connections and fitting in with other students he called “elite in their own respects.”
That’s offered a respite from the spotlight, even as he’s featured in ads and commercials as a leading-man star for college basketball with players permitted to profit from their athletic fame. He is now used to requests for autographs and selfies, shrugging that “there could be worse problems to have.”
Flagg has avoided saying he is making the expected jump to the NBA after the season. For now, there are more pressing things to deal with, from the Final Four to ordering that water gun.
“I have to,” Flagg insisted. “What am I going to do? I’m going to be unarmed?”
Story by Aaron Beard, Associated Press
