Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils lost to the Houston Cougars on Saturday night in heartbreaking fashion during their Final Four matchup.
After leading by 14 points with just over eight minutes left in the game, Duke was unable to make the necessary plays down the stretch to win. It was a devastating collapse by a team that had played so well until late in the second half.
More than likely, Flagg has played his last game with the Blue Devils. He is widely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA draft.
Following Duke’s elimination from the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA honored Flagg with a powerful tribute.
The tribute was posted on the NCAA March Madness account on X.
If Flagg is indeed done with the Blue Devils, he put together an impressive season. He absolutely lived up to the hype and almost led his team to a national championship win.
Throughout the course of the 2024-25 college basketball season, Flagg played in 37 games. He averaged 19.2 points per game to go along with 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.4 steals. Also, he shot 48.1% from the floor overall and knocked down 38.5% of his 3-point attempts.
Flagg now has to make his final decision. It seems likely he’ll choose to enter the NBA draft, but it’s not a guarantee.
A former NBA No. 1 overall pick, Larry Johnson, recently urged Flagg to stay for one more year at Duke.
“To go back to Duke and spend one more year, just get them skills together a little bit more. I think that would be a pretty good idea,” he said. “But, again, knowing you’re gonna be No. 1 coming out as a freshman, that’d be hard to turn down.”