Cooper Flagg, projected No. 1 pick, declares for 2025 NBA Draft: What makes him so special

After one of the best statistical freshman seasons in college basketball history, which earned him near-unanimous National Player of the Year honors, Duke forward Cooper Flagg has officially declared for the 2025 NBA Draft, he announced on Instagram on Monday.

Flagg, the second-youngest player in college basketball this season, is the heavy favorite to be selected No. 1 in the draft — even if teams won’t learn which franchise earns that pick until May 12, the day of the NBA Draft lottery.

If Flagg is picked first, which has been the industry expectation for months, he’ll become Duke’s sixth player to go No. 1 — more than any other program — and its third in the last seven classes, joining Zion Williamson (2019) and Paolo Banchero (2022).

By virtue of winning the Wooden Award, Flagg is already in rare air alongside Williamson as one of four freshmen to take home that trophy, with Kevin Durant and Anthony Davis being the other two.

So, what makes Flagg so special?

His counting statistics speak for themselves. The 18-year-old averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks this season, becoming the first freshman in college basketball history to lead his team in every major statistical category and to the NCAA Tournament. Flagg also set the single-game ACC freshman scoring record with his 42-point effort against Notre Dame in January.

Even in Duke’s season-ending loss to Houston in the Final Four, Flagg made history, becoming the first player since steals and blocks became recorded statistics to lead or co-lead his team in every major statistical category in a Final Four game. (He had 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals against the Coogs, although that game may be most remembered for him missing the potential game-winning shot with seconds left.)

But Flagg’s impact, profound as it is in the stat sheet, goes well beyond a box score. Despite standing 6-foot-9 and likely slotting in as a wing at the next level, Flagg was used by Duke coach Jon Scheyer as the team’s de facto point guard most of this season. Flagg regularly initiated the Blue Devils’ offense — which finished the season No. 1 in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom — and even when he didn’t have the ball, his gravity freed up his teammates for their own looks.

Entering college, Flagg had questions about his jump shot and whether he could be relied upon shooting 3s — but he put those questions to bed in mid-January, when he found his stroke and never looked back. He finished the season making 38.5 percent of his 3s, including three of his four attempts against Houston.

Defensively, Flagg not only locked down opponents on the perimeter, but also served as an ideal roving center fielder, whose instincts and length made him one of the better help defenders in the country. As the most versatile defender on the nation’s longest team, Flagg was a key cog in a unit that finished the season fifth in adjusted efficiency, per KenPom. Although he ultimately didn’t win the award, the Maine native was still named a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year semifinalist, which speaks to his excellence on that end of the floor — again, despite being a teenager in the oldest era of college basketball history.

Flagg’s official declaration should put to bed any posturing about whether such a generational NBA prospect was ever seriously considering returning to college. Those hypotheticals took off in February after The Athletic ran a feature on Flagg in which the phenom expressed a similar sentiment to past Duke stars Williamson and Banchero: “S—, I want to come back next year.” That quote immediately went viral, with pundits discussing whether Flagg might buck being the top pick to return for his sophomore season.

Scheyer indicated at multiple points this season that Flagg would not be returning, and emphasized the true meaning of Flagg’s comment for anyone who took it out of context: The kid loved his lone season in college and wishes he had more than one year in Durham.

Alas, Flagg’s pro pedigree — and the rapid improvements he made this season, especially as a handler and shooter, arguably his two biggest weaknesses entering college — meant he was always going to be a top pick in June’s draft. In fact, getting to the pros more quickly was part of the reason Flagg reclassified up a year and joined Duke last summer, despite originally being a member of the 2025 recruiting class. Graduating high school early and skipping his senior season meant Flagg would get to his first NBA contract a year earlier (and expedite his entire pro earning timeline).

It’s rare, especially in this era, to build an entire team around a freshman, but Flagg was the rare exception who warranted it. Scheyer spent 18 months — ever since Flagg committed to Duke in October 2023, after a private driving range session with his future coach — constructing a lineup that accentuated Flagg’s skills and surrounded him with the talent necessary to compete for a national title. Duke also worked with Flagg directly as the teenager reset the name, image and likeness market, agreeing to lucrative deals with New Balance, Gatorade and other top brands. He became, as much as any player in recent memory, the face of the sport — to the point that Duke losing in the Final Four was arguably a larger story than Houston making its third national title game in program history.

Now, whichever franchise is fortunate enough to land the No. 1 pick will welcome one of the best pro prospects of the last decade. The Utah Jazz have the best odds of earning that selection, followed by the Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, New Orleans Pelicans and Philadelphia 76ers.

(Top photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)