Cooper Flagg announced he will leave Duke and declare for the NBA draft. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald
Cooper Flagg made it official. His next stop is the NBA.
The Newport native and former Nokomis Regional High School standout announced on Instagram that he will leave Duke University after a sensational freshman year and enter the NBA draft, likely as the top overall pick.
The 18-year-old Flagg will be the first player born and raised in Maine to be drafted in the NBA’s first round.
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“Duke fans, my teammates, the Brotherhood, and everybody that was along for this journey, it was an incredible year. Probably the best year of my life, and I have so much gratitude and I feel so blessed for all of the opportunities that I was given,” Flagg said in his Instagram post, which featured him talking over his highlights and clips of him celebrating during the year with teammates and coaches. “Duke has always been a dream for me, but I’m excited to announce that I’ll be entering my name into the 2025 NBA Draft.
“Today’s just the beginning, but I have the Brotherhood with me for life.”
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Flagg entered the season as the anticipated top pick following his success at Montverde Academy in Florida, where he led the Eagles to a high school national championship last April. He only bolstered his case at Duke, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists while becoming the fourth freshman to win the Wooden Award, given to the year’s best player. Flagg joined Zion Williamson in 2019, Anthony Davis in 2012 and Kevin Durant in 2007 as freshmen to win the award.
Flagg is in Los Angeles training, and was unavailable Monday to talk about his decision.
His trainer, Matt MacKenzie, said Flagg has dreamed of the NBA for a while.
“We’ve had plenty of conversations about how making the NBA, and then having success and stacking championships at the NBA level is the ultimate goal,” he said. “Cooper wants to be able to play at the highest level, on the greatest stage there is in basketball. Up to this point he’s done that, and he wants to continue to do that. He’s somebody who’s always seeking a bigger challenge.”
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MacKenzie said the team that drafts Flagg will get a player ready to make a franchise-altering impact right away.
“I really think that his greatest strengths are his two-way versatility and how competitive he is,” he said. “He has the ability to impact winning in so many ways. … I feel like that, combined with how competitive and how hard he plays every possession, make him a can’t-miss prospect for any NBA team.”
His AAU coach, Andy Bedard, said he sees Flagg having that kind of effect on a team as well.
“It’s his versatility to do everything at basically the highest level. I think he’s a complete winner, he’s a character kid, he’s a franchise-type kid,” Bedard said. “He’s someone that a lot of seasoned veterans will want to play with because of how he plays and how unselfish he is. … It’s his commitment to playing hard on every possession that I think is really something a lot of people would say is a lost art in the NBA.”
