# BREAKING: Duke Men’s Basketball Adds Five-Star Wing Cooper Flagg as Program’s Highest-Ranked Recruit Ever
**By Jordan Brennan, The Chronicle & ACC Insider**
*Durham, N.C. – October 30, 2023 – 11:47 a.m. ET*
In a move that sent shockwaves through the college basketball world, Duke University and head coach Jon Scheyer have officially landed consensus No. 1 recruit Cooper Flagg, the 6-foot-9 wing from Newport, Maine, who reclassified from the class of 2025 into 2024 and committed to the Blue Devils this morning in a live ceremony streamed from Montverde Academy (Fla.).
Flagg, a generational talent who has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant, Jayson Tatum, and even a young LeBron James, becomes the highest-ranked recruit in the modern era of recruiting rankings to ever sign with Duke, eclipsing the previous marks held by Kyrie Irving (No. 2, 2010), Jabari Parker (No. 2, 2013), and Zion Williamson (No. 5, 2018).
“Cooper is the best player on the planet at his age, full stop,” Scheyer said moments after the commitment went public. “He chose Duke because he wants to compete for national championships and develop at the highest level. We’re honored, humbled, and ready to get to work.”
The announcement, delivered in front of a packed Montverde gymnasium wearing a Duke-blue tie, ended one of the most intensely followed recruitments in recent memory. Flagg, who turns 17 in December, had narrowed his list to just two finalists: Duke and his home-state University of Connecticut, the defending national champions who had made a furious late push after Flagg’s dominant summer with USA Basketball and on the Nike EYBL circuit.
Sources close to the recruitment told The Chronicle that the decision came down to three core factors:
1. Scheyer’s vision of Flagg as the centerpiece of a new-era Duke program transitioning out of the Krzyzewski years.
2. The opportunity to play immediately in front of NBA scouts every night in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
3. The relationships Flagg built with current Duke freshmen and future teammates Jared McCain, Tyrese Proctor, and especially fellow five-star commit Isaiah Evans, who has been recruiting Flagg privately for months.
“Coach Scheyer never promised minutes—he promised development,” Flagg said, echoing a line he repeated throughout the fall. “He showed me film of how he turned Paolo [Banchero] into the No. 1 pick, how he unlocked Brandon Ingram’s jumper, how he let RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish hunt shots early. That’s what I want: to be pushed every single day in practice against pros.”
Flagg’s statistical dominance is almost cartoonish. In the 2023 EYBL regular season he averaged 24.1 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and 3.9 blocks while shooting 41% from three. At the FIBA U19 World Cup last summer he led the United States to gold, earning MVP honors after a 37-point outburst against France in the semifinals. NBA executives who scouted the event privately told front offices that Flagg is the clear favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft—before he has even played a college game.
For Duke, the commitment is a program-defining coup. After a rare first-round NCAA Tournament exit last season and the departure of projected 2024 lottery picks Kyle Filipowski and Tyrese Proctor (both of whom remain in school as of now), many wondered if Scheyer could maintain Duke’s place atop the recruiting hierarchy in Year 2 of the post-Krzyzewski era.
He answered emphatically.
Flagg joins a 2024 class that now ranks No. 1 nationally by every major service:
– Cooper Flagg – No. 1 overall (Montverde Academy / Newport, ME)
– Isaiah Evans – No. 11 overall (North Mecklenburg / Huntersville, NC)
– Kon Knueppel – No. 19 overall (Wisconsin Lutheran / Milwaukee, WI)
– Darren Harris – No. 38 overall (Paul VI Catholic / Virginia)
– Patrick Ngongba II – No. 22 overall (Paul VI Catholic / Virginia)
Combined with a veteran-laden roster that returns Jeremy Roach (if he withdraws from the 2024 draft), Mark Mitchell, and potentially Filipowski, Duke is projected by early way-too-early polls as the preseason No. 1 team for 2024-25.
Rival fanbases immediately took to social media with a mix of awe and dread. “We just lost the ACC before Halloween,” one UNC message-board poster lamented. Kentucky fans, who had been quietly confident after hosting Flagg on an unofficial visit in September, expressed stunned disbelief. UConn supporters pointed out that Flagg still has deep ties to Storrs—his brother Ace is a preferred walk-on for the Huskies—but ultimately the allure of Duke’s one-and-done pedigree proved decisive.
Scheyer, visibly emotional during his post-commitment press conference, reflected on the magnitude of the moment. “Coach K texted me at 6:03 this morning: ‘Welcome to the seat, kid. Now go win some damn titles.’ Landing Cooper is the kind of statement that tells the country Duke is still Duke.”
Flagg will enroll early in January 2024, graduate high school a semester ahead of schedule, and participate in Duke’s second-semester practices. He is expected to make his Cameron Indoor Stadium debut on January 27, 2025, when the Blue Devils host Virginia—coincidentally the same opponent Duke opened with when Zion Williamson made his debut six years earlier.
For a program that has produced 23 one-and-done lottery picks since 2006, Cooper Flagg may represent the most anticipated arrival of them all.
As the Cameron Crazies begin planning tenting strategies nine months early and Nike readies the latest “Flagg Bearer” marketing campaign, one thing is already certain: college basketball’s axis just tilted toward Durham.
Again.
*Word count: 1,012*
*(Sources: Multiple recruiting analysts, USA Basketball personnel, and direct statements from Jon Scheyer and Cooper Flagg. Story will be updated as enrollment and jersey number details emerge.)*
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