DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) – Duke men’s basketball freshman sensation Cooper Flagg, who led the Blue Devils to their first Final Four appearance under head coach Jon Scheyer and won several awards along the way, has officially announced the end of his college career.
Flagg will be forgoing the remainder of his collegiate eligibility and declaring for the 2025 NBA Draft, he revealed through social media on Monday.
The 18-year-old superstar is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick by most draft experts after wrapping up a historically dominant year for the Blue Devils. In his lone season at Duke, he racked up 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 blocks per game while shooting 48.1% from the field.
“His highlights, his statistics, the ways he impacted the game on both ends of the floor, really in every category, was off the charts — as good of a freshman season that a guy has had here,” Scheyer said in a social media video from the program about Flagg’s NBA declaration.
“But to me the separator and the joy of coaching Cooper is the person he was every day, the teammate that he was — never about statistics or anything other than creating an environment and helping his team to win.”
Arriving in Durham as the top-ranked recruit in the nation coming out of high school, the 6-foot-9 freshman certainly lived up to the hype. Flagg took home numerous postseason accolades, including the Wooden Award, the Naismith Player of the Year, the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year, as well as the National Freshman of the Year.
He also earned The Associated Press national player of the year award for his on-court exploits, becoming only the fourth freshman to ever win the honor.
“I mean, it’s been an incredible year with a really great group of people,” Flagg told the AP in March after winning national player of the year.
He joins his Blue Devils teammates Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel, who entered their names into the draft last week.
The 2025 NBA Draft is set to be held on Wednesday, June 25.