Top NBA Draft prospect Cooper Flagg has officially declared for 2025 and is being hotly pursued as a likely first pick following his great form at Duke. The 18-year-old won the 2025 National College Player of the Year award but was unable to prevent a final-four loss to Houston, ending head coach Jon Scheyer’s push for a first national title for the Blue Devils in nine years.
Flagg is very much the favorite to be selected first at the NBA Draft, and as to where he may end up signing, speculation is rife with the likes of the Utah Jazz, the Washington Wizards and the Charlotte Hornets being among the favorites to secure his signature.
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Flagg has been seen by many as an NBA star in the making, and therefore, his eventual confirmation of entry to the 2025 NBA Draft is a very big deal indeed. The teenager broke the news of this decision via social media, stating.
“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. 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,”
“Today is just the beginning, but I have the Brotherhood with me for life.” Flagg added.
Among those who will greatly miss Flagg is Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer, who was full of praise for his star performer, who is not the only member of his 2024 team set to move to the NBA, albeit he is perhaps the hardest to effectively replace.
“Really proud of Cooper for the special season that he had this year,” Scheyer commented.
“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.”
“But to me, 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. And 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.”
Flagg was already proving his worth when his record breaking 42 point haul against Notre Dame in January really put him on the map. That total being the most for a freshman, and he went on to become only the fourth freshman to have ever won the prestigious Wooden Award for his efforts.
Now those teams who finished the 2024/25 season the worst off will be forming an orderly queue around Flagg, with the Wizards, the Jazz and the Hornets seen as the favorites in that chase.
The 2025 NBA Draft will start in late June at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.