Duke Basketball Legend Now Battling Blue Devils for Cooper Flagg
Rising high school junior Cooper Flagg, a potential reclass candidate as arguably the nation's most dominant and advanced prep, has looked like a Duke basketball lean since picking up an early offer from the Blue Devils in May 2022 and admitting to being a lifelong fan of the program.
That seemed to deter other suitors for a while.
No longer. Flagg's growing offer sheet now includes fellow bluebloods Kansas and UNC, not to mention a few other recent national champions in UConn and Villanova.
And since averaging video-game numbers at last week's Peach Jam — 25.4 points, 13.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 6.9 blocks, and 1.4 steals in mere 32-minute games — the 6-foot-8, 200-pound five-star small forward has seen a few new suitors.
Flagg, still No. 2 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Composite behind Peach Jam rival and fellow priority Duke basketball target Cameron Boozer, reported two more offers on Thursday morning.
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One is from Texas. Interestingly, the other is from eighth-year UCF head coach Johnny Dawkins, a former long-time assistant in Durham after becoming the first Naismith Award winner and jersey-number retiree (No. 24) under now-retired Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski in the mid-1980s.
Perhaps Dawkins plans to capitalize on his status as a Duke basketball legend and 15 years of head coach experience (his first such job was at Stanford) while hoping Flagg, a Maine native, likes the Orlando area enough to attend UCF. It's only a 45-minute drive away from the prep powerhouse he moved to last year, Montverde Academy.
Sure, Dawkins isn't likely to be a top contender for the projected one-and-done lottery pick. But judging by a third Rivals FutureCast prediction recently popping up in favor of second-year Blue Devil head coach Jon Scheyer and his staff, some would say anyone other than Duke has a slim-to-none chance.
On the other hand, it's worth noting that there are no guarantees in recruiting, and Cooper Flagg could still be a year or so from making up his mind on a destination.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball recruiting news.