The day was finally here for Cooper Flagg to officially introduce himself to the sport of college basketball.
The freshman had been torching his peers on the AAU circuit for years. Hailing from Maine of all places, Flagg has quickly developed into one of the most hyped NBA prospects in recent memory. Clearly paying homage to his home state, Duke scheduled a game with Maine to kick off their 2024-25 campaign.
Led by the freshman duo of Flagg and Kon Knueppel, the Blue Devils dispatched of the Black Bears by a score of 96-62. Like Flagg, Knueppel had been drawing rave reviews all throughout the summer and into the fall. He led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-14 from the field. A smart, heady player, he looks like the next great Duke shooter. Knueppel’s feel on the offensive end of the floor is also quite advanced considering his age.
Flagg was no slouch either. It took him a while to get into the flow of the game. However, once doing so, he was highly impactful. He scored 18 points — but it was more so the little things he did to lead his team. Flagg was first on the team in steals (3), assists (5), and rebounds (7). Orchestrating the action at times as a point forward, Flagg’s feel was on full display, as was his athletic prowess.
Duke as a whole opted to play smaller for large stretches. This could coincide with Maine’s relative lack of size. Having said that, the Blue Devils were able to manufacture points in transition at a decent clip. Based on last night’s game, the bench will be led by three veteran transfers in Mason Gills (Purdue), Maliq Brown (Syracuse), and Sion James (Tulane).
While this isn’t the deepest nor biggest team Duke’s had in recent memory, it’s one that has a really complete mix of elite young players coupled with veteran guys who’ve been through the wars of high-level collegiate basketball.
As Flagg and Knueppel continue to develop, this team has the look of one which could contend for the ACC crown this year.
