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Jon Scheyer says Duke star Cooper Flagg is different from any player he has coached
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Jon Scheyer has been a part of a lot of greatness at Duke.
He won a national championship as a player in 2010, and he won a national title as an assistant coach under the legendary Mike Krzyzewski 5 years later in 2015.
And even in the brief time he’s been the head coach in Durham, Scheyer has coached a number of great players. But in his 3rd season in charge of the Blue Devils, he’s coaching a player who is simply unlike anybody else he’s ever coached. Scheyer boldly said that about freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, who has become arguably the best player in college basketball in his first season.
Flagg has helped Duke get to No. 2 in the rankings, win 14 games in a row heading into Saturday night’s showdown with North Carolina (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), and he’s got the Blue Devils at 10-0 in the ACC. All of that and more has left an enormous impression on his head coach, who was asked by ESPN’s Jay Bilas — himself a former Duke star — if he’s ever coached a player like Flagg.
“No. Cooper’s different,” Scheyer said during a segment on ESPN’s College GameDay Saturday morning. “He has a great feel for how to win. The key plays in critical moments through the whole year has been off the charts.”
Scheyer admitted that the Duke coaches had to get Flagg to take over more in games because he’s so unselfish.
“At the end of the day, we’re at our best when Cooper is in attack mode,” said Scheyer.
Flagg has started all 20 games for the Blue Devils this season. He’s averaging 19.9 points per game to go with 8 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.2 blocks in 31.8 minutes a night. Flagg is shooting 48.7% from the field and 32.9% from 3-point range.
He’s currently the betting favorite to win the Wooden Award as the national player of the year (-330 via FanDuel). He’d be the first freshman to win that award since Zion Williamson in 2018-19, and he’d be just the fourth freshman ever to win it. Flagg is also widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
On Saturday night, Flagg will get his first taste of the Duke-UNC rivalry. Duke is a 13.5-point favorite at FanDuel.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
