The Duke Blue Devils, as expected, finished their 2024-25 home season with a victory over Wake Forest on Monday.
The true news, however, was that freshman superstar Cooper Flagg might never play at Cameron Indoor Stadium again, and the predicted No. 1 overall choice in the 2017 NBA draft gave Duke fans with a memorable farewell.
Flagg finished with 28 points, 18 of which came after halftime, plus eight rebounds, seven assists, three blocks, and two steals. It was Flagg’s second 20-point performance in Duke’s last nine games, but head coach Jon Scheyer made sure to address those figures after the game.
“I just hope everybody recognizes, if we were in more close games, his numbers would be like this,” according to Scheyer. “I think he’d be doing a lot, but he’s so unselfish.”
Scheyer did not stop there; he went into detail on what distinguishes Flagg from the rest of the country.
“He plays so hard. “He’s competitive, a great teammate, and his talent is undeniable,” Scheyer said. “Because of his adaptability, as a coach, you can do a wide range of things. He is responsible for guarding positions one through five. There isn’t a good match for him. If you double him, he’ll pass. If it’s one-on-one, he scores. “He just knows when the game is on the line.”
Flagg credited Scheyer and his coaching staff for his development over the past few months.
“I think it’s such a different game than the high school game, just learning all the different things that you have to adapt to and get better at,” Flagg told ESPN. “Being around this level of teaching and receiving skill improvement every day has helped me tremendously. I believe I’ve improved my overall ability to read, handle the ball, shoot, and pass. Whatever it is, I feel like I’ve improved significantly.
With the home schedule completed, Duke will travel to Chapel Hill to finish the regular season against the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday. Following that, the ACC Tournament will begin.
