Duke sensation Cooper Flagg was named the men’s 2025 Naismith National Player of the Year on Sunday.
While the honor comes one day after Duke was shocked by Houston in the Final Four, Flagg undoubtedly fulfilled the hype and expectations that he carried to Durham for his freshman season, and which will surely follow him to the NBA, where he’s expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in June’s draft.
Advertisement
At 6-foot-9, Flagg led the Blue Devils with an average of 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 37% on 3-point attempts. He powered Duke to a 35-3 record (and 19-1 conference mark) with ACC regular season and conference tournament titles. As a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament East region going into Saturday’s Final Four matchup with Houston, Flagg had an opportunity to end his freshman season with a national championship.
Flagg sprained his ankle in Duke’s ACC quarterfinal win over Georgia Tech and sat out matchups versus North Carolina and Louisville for the rest of the conference tournament. However, he returned for the NCAA tournament and broke out with 30 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocks in a Sweet 16 victory over Arizona. Flagg became the first Duke player to tally 30 points, five-plus rebounds and five-plus assists in an NCAA tournament game.
During the regular season, his standout game was a 42-point performance in an 86-78 win over Notre Dame on Jan. 11. That set a Duke and ACC freshman single-game scoring record, surpassing Zion Williamson. Flagg also became the first Blue Devils player to score 40 or more since JJ Redick did so in 2006.
Advertisement
The Newport, Maine native was selected for the Naismith Award over fellow finalists Johni Broome of Auburn, Florida‘s Walter Clayton Jr. and Braden Smith of Purdue.
Flagg adds the Naismith Award to a list of honors including ACC Rookie of the Year and ACC Player of the Year. He was selected as a consensus first-team All-American and is also among the finalists for the Wooden Award with Broome, Clayton Jr., Smith and Alabama‘s Mark Sears.
Flagg committed to Duke and coach Jon Scheyer, a Naismith Coach of the Year finalist, as the No. 1 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class by Rivals out of Florida’s Montverde Academy.
This news was originally published on this post .
About the author
Concerning fantasy baseball 2025 performances from Roki Sasaki, Cody Bellinger and more
We’re a month into the season. It’s time to worry.I’m not exactly an optimist. As the joke goes, some people see the glass as half empty, some as half full — I don’t even see the glass.I find that in this virtual game we play, cynicism pays off. The conventional wisdom is that everyone eventually plays to the back of their baseball card. And that is likely. But with struggling players, we need to identify the reasons their performance has cratered and determine the extent to which it’s actionable, especially in mixed leagues, where you basically trade with the waiver wire. That’s a better practice than reflexively holding guys forever and counting on everything to work out in the end.AdvertisementI’m not saying that worry is necessarily a cause for action. It is one for investigation. My criterion for this worry […]
Super Bowl 2026 odds: Eagles favored post-draft; Chiefs, Cowboys fall
<!--> While the Super Bowl LIX result was one few expected, it's time to forget about it and look ahead to next year, especially now that the 2025 NFL Draft is complete.Super Bowl LX will take place at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California — home of the San Francisco 49ers — on Feb. 8, 2026. Here are the early odds for next year's NFL title game as of April 29 at DraftKings Sportsbook.Super Bowl LX oddsEagles: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)Bills: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)Ravens: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)Chiefs: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)Lions: +950 (bet $10 to win $105 total)Commanders: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)Bengals: +1900 (bet $10 to win $200 total)49ers: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)Packers: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)Rams: […]
Auch das noch … – Nächster Real-Schock! Verteidiger fällt lange aus
Nur 10 Minuten dauerte sein Comeback ... Im Finale der Copa del Rey musste Ferland Mendy (29) verletzungsbedingt ausgewechselt werden. Bitter: Der Real-Star wird erneut lange ausfallen – nachdem er gerade erst zurückgekehrt war. Wie der Klub bekannt gab, hat sich der Franzose einen Sehnenriss im hinteren rechten Oberschenkel zugezogen. Lesen Sie auch<!-->[-->Demnach soll Mendy mindestens zwei Monate lang fehlen. Das Aus für die restliche La-Liga-Saison! Auch die Klub-Weltmeisertschaft (14. Juni bis 13. Juli) wird er verpassen. Ein Schock für Real. Im Finale der Copa del Rey hatte Real mit 2:3 nach Verlängerung gegen Erzrivale Barcelona verloren. Während Barça das Tripple eintüten kann, kämpft Real jetzt um wenigstens einen Titel in dieser Saison. Allerdings haben die Los Blancos in der Liga vier Punkte Rückstand auf Tabellenführer Barça. Mendys Verletzung kommt da mehr als ungelegen. Denn: neben dem Linksverteidiger fehlen bis […]
Elon Musk wants to ‘save’ humanity by donating his sperm to impregnate as many women as possible
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has long been known for his audacious ambitions-colonizing Mars, revolutionizing transportation, and building AI-integrated technologies. But now, he's turning heads for a different kind of mission: fathering as many children as possible in a bid to combat what he calls a "population collapse crisis."'Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk's feet' AI generated video shocks US government officesMusk, 53, has at least 14 known children with four different women, and he's made no secret of his belief that intelligent people must reproduce more to ensure humanity's survival. According to sources, the tech mogul is intentionally expanding his family, often via IVF, with women he sees as intellectually exceptional.Engineering the future-One child at a timeHis latest child, named Seldon Lycurgus, was recently revealed by Shivon Zilis, a Yale-educated executive at Neuralink and the mother of four of Musk's children. […]
Ex-NBA-Profi muss liefern – Chemnitz-Krise: Jetzt ist der MVP gefordert
Stark angefangen und zuletzt etwas nachgelassen.Die Niners Chemnitz stecken in der Easycredit Basketball-Bundesliga in der Krise. Drei Partien in Serie und vier der letzten fünf Spiele gingen verloren. Bedenklich: Darunter waren richtige Klatschen: etwa das 81:103 gegen Alba Berlin am vergangenen Wochenende oder auch das 66:81 bei den MLP Academics Heidelberg Mitte April.„Das ist ein Fehler!“: Darf dieser Wurf zum Bayern-Sieg überhaupt zählen?<!-->[-->Quelle: BILD/DYN27.04.2025Fehlte er noch in Heidelberg, ging gegen Alba einer mit unter, der zuvor für ordentlich Furore gesorgt hatte: Promi-Neuzugang Jacob Gilyard (26). Der Ex-NBA-Profi (absolvierte zwischen 2022 und 2024 42 Partien für die Memphis Grizzlies (38) und die Brooklyn Nets) traf gegen die Berliner keinen einzigen Versuch aus dem Feld, verwandelte genau einen seiner beiden Freiwürfe. Die magere Bilanz: Ein Punkt, zwei Rebounds und immerhin acht Assists bei knapp 26 Minuten Spielzeit.März-MVP Gilyard steckt mit Chemnitz in […]
Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger given six-game ban for ‘throwing object’ at referee, Jude Bellingham avoids suspension
Antonio Rudiger has been given a six-match ban for throwing an object at referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea during his side’s 3-2 Copa del Rey final defeat by Barcelona — but his Real Madrid team-mate Jude Bellingham will not serve a suspension after being shown a red card following the game.Rudiger has been banned for six games for what the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF)’s Disciplinary Committee says constituted a “minor violence against referees”.AdvertisementThe 32-year-old Germany centre-back had been substituted in the final but an outburst on the side of the pitch at the end of extra time saw him held back by team-mates and coaching staff. He was shown a red card and De Burgos Bengoetxea’s referee’s report said he was penalised for “throwing an object from the technical area which did not reach me”, adding he showed an “aggressive […]
Related
Concerning fantasy baseball 2025 performances from Roki Sasaki, Cody Bellinger and more
We’re a month into the season. It’s time to worry.I’m not exactly an optimist. As the joke goes, some people see the glass as half empty, some as half full — I don’t even see the glass.I find that in this virtual game we play, cynicism pays off. The conventional wisdom is that everyone eventually plays to the back of their baseball card. And that is likely. But with struggling players, we need to identify the reasons their performance has cratered and determine the extent to which it’s actionable, especially in mixed leagues, where you basically trade with the waiver wire. That’s a better practice than reflexively holding guys forever and counting on everything to work out in the end.AdvertisementI’m not saying that worry is necessarily a cause for action. It is one for investigation. My criterion for this worry […]
Super Bowl 2026 odds: Eagles favored post-draft; Chiefs, Cowboys fall
<!--> While the Super Bowl LIX result was one few expected, it's time to forget about it and look ahead to next year, especially now that the 2025 NFL Draft is complete.Super Bowl LX will take place at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California — home of the San Francisco 49ers — on Feb. 8, 2026. Here are the early odds for next year's NFL title game as of April 29 at DraftKings Sportsbook.Super Bowl LX oddsEagles: +650 (bet $10 to win $75 total)Bills: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)Ravens: +700 (bet $10 to win $80 total)Chiefs: +750 (bet $10 to win $85 total)Lions: +950 (bet $10 to win $105 total)Commanders: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)Bengals: +1900 (bet $10 to win $200 total)49ers: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)Packers: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)Rams: […]
Auch das noch … – Nächster Real-Schock! Verteidiger fällt lange aus
Nur 10 Minuten dauerte sein Comeback ... Im Finale der Copa del Rey musste Ferland Mendy (29) verletzungsbedingt ausgewechselt werden. Bitter: Der Real-Star wird erneut lange ausfallen – nachdem er gerade erst zurückgekehrt war. Wie der Klub bekannt gab, hat sich der Franzose einen Sehnenriss im hinteren rechten Oberschenkel zugezogen. Lesen Sie auch<!-->[-->Demnach soll Mendy mindestens zwei Monate lang fehlen. Das Aus für die restliche La-Liga-Saison! Auch die Klub-Weltmeisertschaft (14. Juni bis 13. Juli) wird er verpassen. Ein Schock für Real. Im Finale der Copa del Rey hatte Real mit 2:3 nach Verlängerung gegen Erzrivale Barcelona verloren. Während Barça das Tripple eintüten kann, kämpft Real jetzt um wenigstens einen Titel in dieser Saison. Allerdings haben die Los Blancos in der Liga vier Punkte Rückstand auf Tabellenführer Barça. Mendys Verletzung kommt da mehr als ungelegen. Denn: neben dem Linksverteidiger fehlen bis […]
Elon Musk wants to ‘save’ humanity by donating his sperm to impregnate as many women as possible
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has long been known for his audacious ambitions-colonizing Mars, revolutionizing transportation, and building AI-integrated technologies. But now, he's turning heads for a different kind of mission: fathering as many children as possible in a bid to combat what he calls a "population collapse crisis."'Donald Trump kissing Elon Musk's feet' AI generated video shocks US government officesMusk, 53, has at least 14 known children with four different women, and he's made no secret of his belief that intelligent people must reproduce more to ensure humanity's survival. According to sources, the tech mogul is intentionally expanding his family, often via IVF, with women he sees as intellectually exceptional.Engineering the future-One child at a timeHis latest child, named Seldon Lycurgus, was recently revealed by Shivon Zilis, a Yale-educated executive at Neuralink and the mother of four of Musk's children. […]
Ex-NBA-Profi muss liefern – Chemnitz-Krise: Jetzt ist der MVP gefordert
Stark angefangen und zuletzt etwas nachgelassen.Die Niners Chemnitz stecken in der Easycredit Basketball-Bundesliga in der Krise. Drei Partien in Serie und vier der letzten fünf Spiele gingen verloren. Bedenklich: Darunter waren richtige Klatschen: etwa das 81:103 gegen Alba Berlin am vergangenen Wochenende oder auch das 66:81 bei den MLP Academics Heidelberg Mitte April.„Das ist ein Fehler!“: Darf dieser Wurf zum Bayern-Sieg überhaupt zählen?<!-->[-->Quelle: BILD/DYN27.04.2025Fehlte er noch in Heidelberg, ging gegen Alba einer mit unter, der zuvor für ordentlich Furore gesorgt hatte: Promi-Neuzugang Jacob Gilyard (26). Der Ex-NBA-Profi (absolvierte zwischen 2022 und 2024 42 Partien für die Memphis Grizzlies (38) und die Brooklyn Nets) traf gegen die Berliner keinen einzigen Versuch aus dem Feld, verwandelte genau einen seiner beiden Freiwürfe. Die magere Bilanz: Ein Punkt, zwei Rebounds und immerhin acht Assists bei knapp 26 Minuten Spielzeit.März-MVP Gilyard steckt mit Chemnitz in […]
Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger given six-game ban for ‘throwing object’ at referee, Jude Bellingham avoids suspension
Antonio Rudiger has been given a six-match ban for throwing an object at referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea during his side’s 3-2 Copa del Rey final defeat by Barcelona — but his Real Madrid team-mate Jude Bellingham will not serve a suspension after being shown a red card following the game.Rudiger has been banned for six games for what the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF)’s Disciplinary Committee says constituted a “minor violence against referees”.AdvertisementThe 32-year-old Germany centre-back had been substituted in the final but an outburst on the side of the pitch at the end of extra time saw him held back by team-mates and coaching staff. He was shown a red card and De Burgos Bengoetxea’s referee’s report said he was penalised for “throwing an object from the technical area which did not reach me”, adding he showed an “aggressive […]
Be the first to leave a comment