Duke Reacts to Cooper Flagg Winning Major Award
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The Duke Blue Devils went on a great run during the 2024-25 college basketball season. Led by Cooper Flagg, the storied program made it all the way to the Final Four before being eliminated by the Houston Cougars.
Flagg lived up to all of the hype in his lone season at Duke. That impressive season led to him being drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
While all eyes are on Flagg heading into his first NBA season, he has won yet another prestigious college basketball award.
Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils runs down the court during the first half in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers at Lenovo Center on March...
Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils runs down the court during the first half in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers at Lenovo Center on March 21, 2025 in Raleigh, North Carolina. More
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
As shared by the NCAA in a post on X, Flagg took home the ESPY's Best College Athlete - Men's Sports award. He was well-deserving of that honor.
Read more: Report: Lakers Looking to Pair Luka Doncic With Nikola Jokic
It didn't take long for the Blue Devils to share their reaction to the news.
Duke took to social media as well to respond to Flagg's new award. The post was just two words long.
"Yeah Coop!!!" it read.
During his one season with the Blue Devils, Flagg put together big-time numbers. He played in 37 games, averaging 19.2 points per game to go along with 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 1.4 steals. Flagg also shot 48.1 percent from the floor and knocked down 38.5 percent of his three-point attempts.
Heading into the NBA, Flagg is expected to be an instant impact player. The Mavericks are going to use him in multiple different ways.
Jason Kidd has made it clear that he plans to give Flagg minutes at the point guard position. If that experiment works out, he'll be able to create major matchup issues for opposing defenses who have to guard the size that Dallas can put on the floor.
Read more: Mavericks' Cooper Flagg Receives Buzzworthy Kevin Garnett Take
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal recently spoke out about Flagg as well. He loves the fit with the Mavericks for the young forward.
Great young man. I know both his parents very, very well," O'Neal said. "Everything about this city, this organization, it's going to be the right place. And then we'll give him time to develop. We all remember Dirk [Nowitzki] wasn't Dirk when he first got here. I think this is a great organization, a great town for him to start off his NBA career."
All of that being said, Flagg has now added another award to his collection. He will be missed at Duke, but Blue Devils fans will continue rooting him on in Dallas.
For more on the Dallas Mavericks, Duke Blue Devils and general NBA and college basketball news, head on over to Newsweek Sports.
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