Five-Time National Champ Assesses Duke Basketball Freshman Duo

Across 42 years at the helm of the Duke basketball program, Mike Krzyzewski witnessed, recruited, and coached some of the best players the sport has ever produced.

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The 78-year-old knows what it takes to win. He knows what type of character the most successful players possess on and off the court. And he's had nothing but praise for members of the 2025-26 Blue Devils as they look to capture the program’s sixth national championship — and first without Coach K running the show.

Speaking on his SiriusXM radio show ahead of the Final Four tipping off in San Antonio on Saturday, Coach K took the time to praise the Blue Devil freshman duo of Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel. He noted that his successor, third-year head coach Jon Scheyer, “hit the jackpot” with the two opting to play their college ball in a Duke basketball jersey:

"You try to recruit great kids and great players...boy we hit the jackpot with these two guys."

Coach K talks about what makes Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg so special & how their families have played a big role in the men they have become.@DukeMBB
🎧https://t.co/BryJ1ZmE5Z pic.twitter.com/7YxuVJE70z
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) April 1, 2025

Krzyzewski also pointed out the two players’ family support system, crediting their mothers and fathers for instilling competitiveness and love for the game.

That should come as no surprise, as both have parents who played basketball at the collegiate level. Their mothers, in particular, excelled in college, with Kon Knueppel’s mother, Chari Nordgaard Knueppel, scoring the most points in Wisconsin-Green Bay history and Flagg’s mom, Kelly Bowman Flagg, helping to power Maine to one historic win in the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel hope to add to their own college hoops legacies by winning two more games and cutting down nets in the Alamodome on Monday night.

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