The Duke basketball team fell short of the Final Four once again. In Jon Scheyer's second year as head coach, the Blue Devils got close but lost to ACC rival NC State in the Elite Eight. It was an unfortunate result, although Duke defeated Vermont, James Madison, and 1-seed Houston to get to the Elite Eight.
After Duke's exit from the tournament, top incoming recruit Cooper Flagg delivered a message to the fans.
“To all the Duke fans that are hurt, look at the season. I don't think anybody expected us to get to where we were…I know we're bringing a lot of energy next year. A lot of excitement…Look forward to a lot of success.”
It certainly was a tough blow losing to NC State for the second time in MAach. The Wolfpack defeated Duke in the ACC Tournament en route to the ACC tournament crown and an automatic bid. They then knocked Duke out of March Madness altogether, so it was a crushing ending to the Blue Devils season.
But, Flagg says to look forward to what's to come, and there are a ton of reasons why Duke basketball fans should be excited about the future in Durham.
Cooper Flagg headlines a talented Duke basketball recruiting class
The future is bright for the Duke basketball program. Cooper Flagg, a five-star recruit, is the prized possession of the class and is already being discussed as the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. More than that, Duke has a series of five-star players in the recruiting class and a couple of four-star players, per 247Sports:
- Isaiah Evans
- Kon Knueppel
- Patrick Ngongba II (4-star)
- Darren Harris (4-star)
- Khaman Maluach
Maluach is the latest five-star player to join Duke's loaded class, and he also has a ton of NBA hype before even beginning his college career. Add in the fact that Jon Scheyer should have a ton of interest from players in the transfer portal, and the 2024-2025 Duke basketball roster looks like one of the best in all of college basketball for the upcoming season.
Cooper Flagg set to embrace ‘villain' role
Flagg, who has drawn a ton of attention even before committing to Duke, is now going to need to get adjusted to embracing the ‘villain' role. Flagg spoke about that with Collin Ginnan of On3 and didn't seem too bothered by it:
“I love it. Keep it coming,” Flagg said. “Call me whatever you want. It’s not going to change my opinion of myself.”
Flagg also spoke more in-depth about the loaded recruiting class that he is a part of: “I would just tell them — looking at our recruiting class especially and knowing the guys like Isaiah [Evans], Kon [Knueppel], Darren [Harris], Patrick [Ngongba] and Khaman [Maluach] — we have a really good class coming in,” Flagg said. “Get excited and stay excited, I think we have a lot of talent coming in. It’s the right personality fit for guys to come in and excel.”
Even with Duke's crushing loss to NC State in the Elite Eight, Flagg insists that the Blue Devil fans have a lot to look forward to, beginning in the 2024-2025 season.
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