LOS ANGELES — Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg said he doesn’t plan on rewatching Duke’s 70-67 Final Four loss to Houston as he continues to process the heartbreaking end to his season.
“I haven’t watched any film from the game yet,” Flagg told The Athletic on Friday at the 2025 John R. Wooden Award availability at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. “That’s probably something I won’t do, to be honest, is watch that game.”
The Blue Devils led by 14 points, 59-45, with 8:17 left in the second half before a series of miscues cost them as Houston made a remarkable comeback. Among those was a controversial over-the-back foul on Flagg with Duke leading by 1 point with 19.6 seconds left. He had a chance to regain the lead late with a short fadeaway jumper but missed, cementing the loss.
Flagg still has a decision to make regarding his NBA future. He has until May 29 to determine if he will return to Duke for his sophomore season or enter the 2025 NBA Draft. The projected No. 1 pick — considered a generational prospect by most NBA talent evaluators — said he’s still processing the loss as he weighs his future.
“I’ll just take some time from (the loss), regroup myself, whatever it is,” Flagg said. “I’m gonna get back into training here pretty soon. And just start to gear up again with the offseason.”
Flagg joined Duke’s Zion Williamson (2019), Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2012) and Texas’ Kevin Durant (2007) as the only freshmen to win the Wooden Award. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks on 48.1-38.5-84.0 shooting splits.
2025 @WoodenAward winner‼️‼️‼️
🏆 @Cooper_Flagg 😈🫡 pic.twitter.com/QmNWqsszWb
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) April 5, 2025
When asked to assess his freshman year, Flagg said it was “incredible,” noting his bonds with his Duke teammates, in particular.
“I think it was an incredible year,” Flagg said. “It was an incredible group of people. I made a lot of really great relationships that I’m gonna have for the rest of my life. It didn’t end how we wanted it to, but it doesn’t take away from the rest of the year and the year that I was able to have with my brothers.”
As for Flagg’s offseason plans, he’s returning to Duke to finish his finals and then will come back to Los Angeles to train at Proactive Sports Performance in Westlake Village, Calif.
“Just getting better all around,” Flagg said of his offseason goals. “There’s always so much that you can improve on and get better at. So just getting back in the gym, working on shooting, handling, defense, whatever it is, competing. Getting back in the gym and just getting better.”
Duke coach Jon Scheyer said during the NCAA Tournament that he believes Flagg will declare for the draft: “That’s going to happen, as it should.”
Flagg said he’s trying his best to focus on himself and ignore the speculation regarding his future.
“It’s just part of it,” Flagg said. “It’s part of the media. It’s part of what people — they say good things, they say bad things. For me, it’s just not really listening to what anybody says, just staying true to who I am, trying to be humble and just taking it one day at a time.”
(Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
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