Tyrese Proctor and Cooper Flagg discussed Duke’s magical season with ESPN’s Andraya Carter earlier today. The Blue Devils have been on an outstanding run this year, with losing coming as a rarity. Duke is currently 27-3, which is good enough for first in the ACC.
This is in large part due to the play of some of their star players such as Proctor and the freshman phenom, Flagg. Flagg leads the team across the board in points (19.6), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.2), steals (1.6), and blocks (1.2). They had the chance to speak with all of this and more with ESPN.
Tyrese Proctor and Cooper Flagg Sit Down With ESPN’s Andraya Carter To Discuss Duke’s Season
“It’s been a great year,” says Flagg on his impressive season. “Everyone kind of came together very quickly. It just made everything a lot easier. Then you have guys like Tyrese, Mason, Sion, who have been in the college basketball world for a couple of years, made it a lot easier to get in a groove and find a rhythm.”
Proctor enters the year as a junior, which makes him one of the veterans on the team.
“It’s a change and feels different,” says Proctor when asked about his veteran presence. “Even my freshman year, at some point you have to grow up. It’s been great, though, just trying to help everyone on the team.”
Flagg spoke with Carter about how it feels for him on campus with everything he’s been doing, too.
“In the summer workouts, [Cooper] had a couple of off-the-backboard dunks … you sorta got the vibe that he was legit.” 😤 @Andraya_Carter with Duke stars Tyrese Proctor and Cooper Flagg on the Blue Devils’ play this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/i6UvQsqHIy
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) March 8, 2025
“At first going to class was kind of crazy,” says Flagg. “Everyone would give weird looks and be standoffish. After the first couple weeks, everyone treated me and the rest of the guys like normal.”
Proctor spoke about when he and the rest of the team knew Flagg was going to be special.
“In the summer workouts, [Cooper] had a couple of off-the-backboard dunks … you sorta got the vibe that he was legit,” says Proctor. “He’s always been a team-first player, but coach and us want him to be more selfish at times.”
Whether it be talking with the coach or his parents, Flagg said it helped him become more assertive on the court.
“I just feel like my teammates and all the coaches around me have been putting me in the best positions possible,” Flagg said.
Proctor also spoke about how good the Duke defense has been this season and what makes them so tough to go against.
“Everyone is just so connected,” says Proctor. “We play like we have five people guarding the ball. So we’re always pulling towards the ball, and just shrinking the court.”
One of Flagg’s biggest strengths comes in his ability to be a two-way player. He produces on both sides of the court every night.
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“That’s always been important to me,” says Flagg. “Getting stops fuels me at the same time scoring on offense. Locking people down and getting stops really fuels a team.”
Proctor and Flagg both joked around and said a big time dunk gives them more energy than a big time block. However, Flagg said a big time block gives him a lot of energy too.
With the NCAA tournament coming up, Proctor gave Flagg and other freshman some advice.
“It’s 0-0, nothing that happened before matters,” Proctor said. “There’s been so many different upsets throughout the years. It’s from teams getting too high or too low. It’s just one game at a time, which we’ve done all year.”
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