After one season with the Blue Devils, the freshman and projected No. 1 pick announced his NBA declaration on Instagram on April 21.
Cooper Flagg, Duke freshman and star forward for the Blue Devils, has declared for the upcoming NBA draft.
The 18-year-old and projected No. 1
pick, made the announcement in a social media post on April 21, sharing highlights from his one season with the team.
“Duke fans, my teammates, the brotherhood, everybody that was along for the journey. It was an incredible year, probably the best year of my life, and I have so much gratitude, and I feel so blessed for all the opportunities that I was given,” he
said during the video montage.
“Duke has always been a dream for me, but I’m excited to announce that I'll be entering my name into the 2025 NBA draft.”
Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists with the Blue Devils and helped lead the team to an NCAA Tournament Final Four
appearance.
Duke fell 70–67 to the Houston Cougars on April 5, during the semi-final match-up for the men’s national championship title.
Despite the loss, Flagg was
named first-team All-American, the Oscar Robertson Trophy’s National Player of the Year, and recipient of the Wayman Tisdale Award as the National Freshman Player of the Year.
Further, he went on to
win the John R. Wooden Award for college basketball’s most outstanding player, the fourth freshman to do so.
“Today is just the beginning, but I have the Brotherhood with me for life,” he concluded in his announcement.
In response, Duke’s men’s basketball posted their own message of support,
writing on social media platform X: “League next. Duke forever. Thank you, Cooper Flagg!!”
The 6-foot-9, 205-pound player from Newport, Maine, ranks among the top 10 in four of the five major statistical categories in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), in scoring, rebounding, assists, and blocked shots.
“Really proud of Cooper for the special season that he had this year,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer
said in response to the NBA draft declaration.
“I think the accolades speak for itself, with what he did, winning every National Player of the Year award. 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.”
After completing his high school career as a top recruit last year, Flagg went on to make his mark throughout his short, yet strong college basketball career, notably scoring 42 points against Notre Dame and setting an ACC record.
“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,” Scheyer continued.
“We won a lot of games and had a lot of success, and a lot of times that environment is created from your best player. And Cooper did an incredible job in every facet of our program, on and off the court, with what he’s done.”
The 2025 NBA draft lottery will be held on May 12 and broadcast live on ESPN.
