Durham's Cooper Flagg period is off and operating.
Flagg and No. 7 Duke cruised to a dominant 96-62 victory over Maine on Monday night time to formally announce the 2024-25 males's faculty basketball season. It marked the primary probability for followers to see the 17-year-old star, projected to be the No. 1 decide in subsequent summer season's NBA Draft and probably the most anticipated faculty participant in latest reminiscence.
Flagg opened his faculty profession in entrance of many notable Duke alumni and his household, together with his twin brother, who remains to be in highschool, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils' season opener additionally got here towards a college situated lower than an hour from his hometown in Maine. Flagg is arguably among the finest basketball gamers to ever come out of the state. His longtime AAU coach in contrast his rise to Jamaica's iconic bobsled staff from the 1988 Olympics.
Flagg completed with 18 factors within the win and earned his first factors of the night time from the free throw line within the opening minutes.
Though he shot simply 6-of-15 from the sector and missed all 4 of his Three-point makes an attempt, Flagg had his moments within the blowout win over the Black Bears. He even threw down an enormous one-handed dunk late within the first half.
The Blue Devils had an 11-point halftime lead. They flew forward with no hitch within the second innings to assert victory by 34 runs. Flagg went down briefly late within the recreation after going up for a layup, however appeared to inform a Duke coach that he was simply having calf cramps. He was helped off the ground however was shortly seen smiling and laughing on the bench. The Blue Devils have been up 29 factors at that time.
Flagg added seven rebounds and 5 assists. Fellow Duke freshman Kon Knueppel led the best way for the Blue Devils. Knueppel, a Rivals.com five-star recruit from Wisconsin, had 15 of his 22 factors within the first half whereas capturing 5 of eight from the sector within the first 20 minutes. He completed with 4 rebounds and two assists.
Duke shot higher than 55 p.c from the sector as a staff, and 6 completely different gamers hit double figures within the win. Sophomore guard Caleb Foster added 11 factors and Tulane switch Sion James completed with 11 factors off the bench.
Monday night time wasn't a lot of a problem for both Flagg or the Blue Devils, however it was an excellent first begin to head coach Jon Scheyer's third marketing campaign with this system. They’ll face Military later this week earlier than key matchups with No. 23 Kentucky, No. 10 Arizona and No. 1 Kansas, all earlier than Thanksgiving.
However so far as debut goes, Flagg's was very stable. With all of the items round him seeming to be working completely instantly, the Blue Devils must be an enormous risk within the ACC this season.