Coming out of high school, Cooper Flagg has been deemed a surefire future NBA talent and has been compared to superstars such as Paul George and Jayson Tatum. Committed to Duke University, most scouts see Flagg as a lock for the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, with teams eagerly positioning themselves to select him.

In high school, Flagg led his team in 4 out of the 5 major statistical categories and led Montverde to a national championship. The 6’ 9” forward is a skilled scorer as he averaged almost 17 points per game on 55% shooting in his senior season at Montverde. With a 7’ 4” wingspan, Flagg is also a gifted defender leading his team with 1.6 steals per game and 2.7 blocks per game.

On June 28th, the USA Men’s Basketball Select Team was announced and included 14 current NBA players and a 17 year old who is yet to play a college basketball game. That 17 year old is Cooper Flagg. This means that Cooper Flagg has quickly gone from playing high school competition to playing against the absolute best players in the world on Team USA. Matching up against players like Lebron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant is something players his age dream of, and he will achieve that dream this summer. 

According to Joe Vardon’s article Cooper Flagg headlines select team that will practice against Team USA during Olympic training camp, Flagg is the first college player to practice with Team USA since Doug McDermott and Marcus Smart in 2013. However, Marcus Smart was 19 years old and Doug McDermott was 21 years old. Keep in mind that Flagg is only 17 years old! The sky’s the limit for him and I believe he will become an incredible talent in the league. 

Flagg is poised for huge success at Duke in the 2025 season and is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft. Once he enters the NBA, he will bring incredible skill and effort on both ends of the floor. Flagg has huge expectations that I think he can deliver on, but for now, he’s honing his skills against some of the world’s best talent.