Cooper Flagg is the best player in college basketball. Any suspense around that was removed the day before the Final Four, when he collected the AP Player of the Year Award and the Oscar Robertson Award a little more than an hour later, becoming the youngest player in history to win each.
“I have to remind myself it’s a year early,” said coach Jon Scheyer. “He should be graduating high school now. To have the season that he’s had, I think the stats speak for itself. I think how hard he plays, the highlights, all those things speaks for itself.”
Flagg stars in a number of TV commercials, and his face was all over San Antonio in various ads. He’ll likely be the top pick in the NBA Draft a little later this year.
With all the 2025 drama removed by Flagg’s dominance, the real question is about his legacy. Where will he rank among the long list of Duke, and March Madness legends?
“I watch Cooper Flagg,” said Houston coach Kelvin Sampson. “One year we were playing Syracuse in the Elite Eight to go to the Final Four. Syracuse’s best player was Carmelo Anthony. I coached against Gary Payton as a freshman. Sean Elliott. Jason Kidd. Paul Pierce. T.J. Ford. A lot of great players. This guy is right there with all of ’em.
“It’s hard to say what he’s not good at. Now, he’s not as great at some things as he is at others. His floor is really good at everything. But his ceiling is just his size, finishes with his left hand around the paint, right hand has a floater, can make a three. Really good free throw shooter. If you double him, you better get there quick ’cause he can pass.”
He also seems to be a team player. The entire Blue Devils squad showed up for him to receive his AP Player of the Year trophy, sitting in the back row of the press conference, cheering and trying to get him to break on the podium.
“He’s humble,” said Scheyer, next to him on the podium. “Up here he’s humble. Behind the scenes not as much, which I’m good with. That’s what I want. But him, his family, they’ve been a dream come true for me, for us and our program. Obviously we got more work we want to do, finish this thing off.”
