Duke freshman star Cooper Flagg
named the AP men's college basketball player of the year
[April 05, 2025]
By AARON BEARD
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — 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 — though Flagg
earned 41 of 61 votes from AP Top 25 voters.
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.
Roughly 15 family members and friends came to San Antonio to be
there for Flagg's news conference for the awards. The Duke team and
staff joined as well, with coach Jon Scheyer watching with a big
smile and teammates offering their own fist-pumping cheers from a
back row of chairs.
“He plays so hard, he's competitive, a great teammate," 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.”
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Duke forward Cooper Flagg, Associated Press Player of the Year,
answers a question during a news conference ahead of the Final Four
college basketball games in the NCAA Tournament Friday, April 4,
2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
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?”
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