Maybe so, but the the 18-year-old\u2019s game has been far more advanced than his age from the opening tip of his college debut. Scoring. Rebounding. Setting up teammates as a playmaker, then aiding them as a defender. He did it all amid high expectations as the potential No. 1 overall NBA draft prospect, the driving force with a relentless competitive edge and mature focus for a team now two wins from a national championship.<\/p>\n
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It is why Flagg was named The Associated Press men\u2019s college basketball national player of the year on Friday, becoming only the fourth freshman to win the award in its 64-year history.<\/p>\n
The 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Newport, Maine, won a two-man race with Auburn star Johni Broome. Both players were\u00a0unanimous first-team AP All-Americans<\/span>\u00a0with teams at the Final Four, and they were the only two to receive player-of-the-year votes \u2014 though Flagg earned 41 of 61 votes from AP Top 25 voters.<\/p>\n Flagg joins\u00a0Duke\u2019s Zion Williamson (2019)<\/span>, Kentucky\u2019s Anthony Davis (2012) and Texas star Kevin Durant (2007) as freshman winners. Each went either No. 1 or No. 2 overall in the NBA draft a few months later. Flagg is the eighth Duke player to win the award, most of any program.<\/p>\n Roughly 15 family members and friends came to San Antonio to be there for Flagg\u2019s news conference for the awards. The Duke team and staff joined as well, with coach Jon Scheyer watching with a big smile and teammates offering their own fist-pumping cheers from a back row of chairs.<\/p>\n \u201cHe plays so hard, he\u2019s competitive, a great teammate,\u201d Scheyer said\u00a0after the Blue Devils\u2019 home finale<\/span>, \u201cand obviously his ability is special.\u201d<\/p>\n Flagg was just 17 when he arrived at Duke after reclassifying to graduate early from high school. Yet he has exceeded all hype as the nation\u2019s top-ranked recruit, with Flagg leading Duke in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.2) and steals (1.4) while ranking second in blocks (1.3) entering Saturday\u2019s national semifinal against Houston.<\/p>\n \u201cI hold myself to a high standard, high expectations,\u201d Flagg told the AP. \u201cJust because I know how much work I\u2019ve put in and how many hours I\u2019ve spent grinding and putting that work in. … It\u2019s those expectations of just trusting what you do and just doing it to the highest level.\u201d<\/p>\n And he repeatedly did that.<\/p>\n He scored an Atlantic Coast Conference\u00a0freshman-record 42 points against Notre Dame<\/span>. There was his\u00a0highlight-reel transition dunk<\/span>\u00a0against Pittsburgh. The big game\u00a0to help the Blue Devils beat Broome\u2019s Tigers<\/span>, along with going for 30 points\u00a0in an NCAA Sweet 16 win against Arizona<\/span>\u00a0that Scheyer called \u201cone of the best tournament performances I\u2019ve ever coached or been a part of.\u201d<\/p>\n Cohesive play is the hallmark of this Blue Devils team, the only one ranked in KenPom\u2019s top five for both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.<\/p>\n It has offered ways for Flagg to improve in his first and possibly lone college season as he learned \u201cthe level of the details\u201d required to thrive. It was ensuring he got in for pre-practice recovery sessions. Or listening when graduate transfer Mason Gillis and junior Tyrese Proctor pushed the importance of sleep, prompting Flagg to nix a high-school habit of late-night phone scrolling.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as outside expectations, I couldn\u2019t really care less,\u201d Flagg said. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s more about following the expectations of my teammates, my coaches, my family. Everybody\u2019s human so I\u2019m going to make mistakes. I\u2019m not going to be at my best all the time.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s what having great teammates and great coaches does for you. They just always have my back and are always there for me.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n His mother, Kelly, almost envies how her son handles that.<\/p>\n \u201cI think he sees it but he really doesn\u2019t let it bother him,\u201d she told the AP. \u201cAnd I wish I was more like that. He\u2019s so comfortable with who he is, and he\u2019s always been that way. That\u2019s why he doesn\u2019t get rattled easily, because he believes in himself and it doesn\u2019t really matter to him what other people think.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a special ability to be able to drown out the noise when the noise can be overwhelming at times for somebody like him. I\u2019m really proud of him for being able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n e always wanted to be first to do anything even when it seemed a bit much, such as the family working with eldest brother Hunter to ride a bike without training wheels \u2014 only to have the then-3 Cooper announce \u201cI can do it, Momma\u201d and back it up.<\/p>\n When it came to basketball, he tested his parents\u2019 nerves by constantly dribbling on the hardwood floors at home. But success came quickly, too, with whispers soon spreading around Maine\u00a0about the prodigy playing up several grade levels<\/span>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he was younger, if somebody stole the ball from him or he turned it over or got fouled or did something (wrong), we would say it was a 50\/50 shot whether he was going to pick up a crazy foul or he was going to do something spectacular,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAnd as he\u2019s gotten older, it was more the chances of something really good was about to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Flagg noted multiple times how much he has enjoyed Duke. He has talked about making connections and fitting in with other students he called \u201celite in their own respects.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s offered a respite from the spotlight, even as he\u2019s featured in ads and commercials as a leading-man star for college basketball with players permitted to profit from their athletic fame. He is now used to requests for autographs and selfies, shrugging that \u201cthere could be worse problems to have.\u201d<\/p>\n Flagg has avoided saying he is making the expected jump to the NBA after the season. For now, there are more pressing things to deal with, from the Final Four to ordering that water gun.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to,\u201d Flagg insisted. \u201cWhat am I going to do? I\u2019m going to be unarmed?\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe so, but the the 18-year-old\u2019s game has been far more advanced than his age from the opening tip of his college debut. Scoring. Rebounding. Setting up teammates as a … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":7296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[157,346],"class_list":["post-7295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","tag-cooper-flagg-named-the-ap-mens-college-basketball-player-of-the-year","tag-kentuckys-anthony-davis"],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n
\u2018High standard, high expectations\u2019<\/h2>\n
Support within reach<\/h2>\n
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Savoring this moment<\/h2>\n
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