Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg is gearing up to hear his name called in the 2025 NBA Draft, scheduled for June 25 and 26. As it has long been said that the Newport, Maine, native will likely be the top pick of this year’s draft, Flagg has proved that he is indeed worthy of that selection, with how he fared in his lone year of college basketball.
He is getting a lot of support, particularly from his family, right before draft night. His mother, Kelly Flagg, was interviewed by CBS Sports College Basketball on Instagram on Wednesday, June 25. In the 58-second clip, she talked about how she and their whole community knew that Cooper was going to be special at an early age.
“I remember just watching the way he moved on the court, and Ralph and I, kind of looking at each other like, you know, ‘This is different.’ You don’t see kids at that age that just nuances of the game that he understood very early. Second grade, we petitioned the rec department to let Ace and Cooper play as second graders on the third and fourth grade rec team. They agreed, of course they were taller than everyone else anyway,” Kelly Flagg said.
“One of the biggest memories I have was, it was a ball going out of bounds, it was on the other team’s end, normally you just tell kids at that age, ‘Just let it go out. Just let it go out.’ But, he dove up in the air and palmed the ball in the air and threw it to a teammate and then, he ran in bounds and sprinted down to the other end of the floor and got it back and scored a layup,” she reminisced.
“We were like, ‘This kid is eight years old.’ Most eight-year-olds aren’t that coordinated but just his coordination, his skill at an early age was kind of like, ‘Hmm, maybe this is a little different,'” she added.
View this post on Instagram
In his lone year of college basketball in the 2024-25 season, Flagg led coach Jon Scheyer’s team in the five major statistical categories, with 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per contest.
Cooper Flagg Was Selected With The First Overall Pick Of The 2025 NBA Draft
Cooper Flagg has been selected with the first overall pick of this year’s NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. Ever since coach Jason Kidd’s team snagged the top selection during the draft lottery with just a 1.8% chance of getting it, it was just a matter of time for them to choose Flagg, as the 18-year-old had long been hailed as the No. 1 prospect coming into the draft.
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and baseball!
