What Alabama Forwards See in Duke Superstar Cooper Flagg

The Crimson Tide opens up about facing the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

Mar 27, 2025; Newark, NJ, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) reacts after making a last second shot to end the first half against the Arizona Wildcats during an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

NEWARK, N.J. –– Excluding Alabama men's basketball guard Mark Sears, the Crimson Tide has faced six of the 14 players selected among the three AP All-American teams.

But on Saturday night, that number will go up to seven and it's the biggest name of all. Duke forward Cooper Flagg is not only a front-runner to be named the Men's College Basketball Player of the Year, but he is also widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft should he declare.

Alabama forwards will be guarding a player averaging 19,0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. He shoots 48.7 percent from the field and 37.2 percent from behind the arc.

Three members of the Crimson Tide frontcourt spoke about the challenges that Flagg presents, but are ready and looking forward to coming face-to-face with him.

Jarin Stevenson

"Cooper Flagg is a very dynamic player," Stevenson said. "I think they've got him projected as No. 1. He's going to be hard to guard. I feel like we have a good game plan to stop him. He's a great player that can do a lot of things on the court. I think he leads their team in every major statistic. So again, very talented player, plays hard. He's very good."

Mouhamed Dioubate

"He's aggressive, he plays aggressive," Dioubate said. "That's one of the things probably a lot of people don't see. Everyone's seen him play. Everyone knows what he's capable of doing. He's capable of making some threes. He can get downhill. We've got a game plan for him."

Aiden Sherrell

"He's a great player, obviously," Sherrell said. "He can score in a lot of ways––he's a three-level scorer. We watch the film together, so we've all seen what we've seen. We're going to stick to our game plan. We're going to continue to play great offensively and also play good defensively."

Of course, Duke isn't a top team in the country just because of Flagg. These three forwards each detailed the amount of versatility and depth the Blue Devils have on the roster and that they'll have to watch out for other Duke standouts as well.

However, stopping Flagg will be a major key to the Crimson Tide's goal of reaching a second consecutive Final Four.

2-seed Alabama aims to achieve this dream against 1-seed Duke on Saturday night at 7:49 p.m. CT in Newark, N.J.