Cooper Flagg’s first season at Duke ended in utter disappointment when the Blue Devils blew a 14-point lead to Houston with eight minutes left in their Final Four matchup, failing to advance to the national championship.
Despite not cutting down the nets, Flagg delivered an exceptional freshman campaign. He captured the Wooden Award as college basketball’s most outstanding player after averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game.
While widely projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, Flagg has yet to declare, and his recent comments have left the door open to a possible return to Duke.
Will Cooper Flagg forgo NBA Draft and stay at Duke for another year?
In a recent interview with The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, Flagg indicated he’s still considering his options.
“I’ll just take some time from (the loss), regroup myself, whatever it is,” Flagg said. “I’m gonna get back into training here pretty soon and start to gear up again for the offseason.”
Buha reports that Flagg plans to complete his academic finals at Duke before beginning offseason training at Proactive Sports Performance in California.
“Just getting better all around,” Flagg told The Athletic about his summer goals. “There’s always so much you can improve on. So just getting back in the gym, working on shooting, handling, defense, competing—getting back in the gym and just getting better.”
Though Flagg hasn’t completely closed the door on a second year at Duke, Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer indicated during the NCAA Tournament that he expects the freshman phenom to enter the draft.
“That’s going to happen, as it should,” Scheyer said.
According to Tankathon, the teams with the best odds to land the No. 1 pick include the Utah Jazz (14%), Washington Wizards (14%), Charlotte Hornets (14%), New Orleans Pelicans (12.5%), and Philadelphia 76ers (10.5%).
