The Duke basketball team looked dangerous during the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament last week. The Blue Devils cruised past 13 seed Vermont and 12 seed James Madison, but the road is going to get much tougher in the Sweet 16 as they will be playing one seed Houston on Friday. No matter what happens, however, the future is very bright for Duke as they have the top recruiting class coming in next year that includes the #1 player in the country, Cooper Flagg.
Cooper Flagg is expected to be a star with Duke basketball, and he is expected to be a star in the NBA in just a couple of years as well. He is dominating at the high school level right now, and he has earned that #1 player ranking.
Flagg was been exceptional this season and not only did he earn the #1 ranking in his recruiting class, but he also earned the Gatorade Player of the Year award. A special former Duke player surprised Flagg to give him the trophy while he was at practice.
Paolo Banchero surprised future Duke star Cooper Flagg with the Gatorade Player of the Year award š
Can Flagg lead the Blue Devils to a National Championship in the near future?pic.twitter.com/kL2GC2ZwLo
ā ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 27, 2024
Paolo Banchero knows a thing or two about being a star at Duke, and now he is a star in the NBA. Flagg is going to be with the Blue Devils next season, and he is hoping to follow a similar path to Banchero's.
Flagg currently attends Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida, andĀ 247 SportsĀ ranks him as the top power forward in the 2024 class, the top player in the state of Florida and the top player in the country. Duke is getting a good one, and he isn't the only star in this recruiting class.
Duke basketball has a loaded 2024 recruiting class
Ā© Stu Boyd II-The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Blue Devils have six commits in their 2024 class, and the player with the lowest rating is the #50 player in the country. This recruiting class is one of the best of all-time.
Duke has four five-stars in the class and two four-stars. Their five-stars are Cooper Flagg, Isaiah Evans (#12 player in the country), Kon Knueppel (#17 player in the country) and Khaman Maluach (#3 player in the country). The four-stars are Patrick Ngongba II (#18 player in the country) and Darren Harris (#50 player in the country). As you can see, the #17 player in the country is a five-star and the #18 player is a four-star. When it is all said and done, this class could have five five-stars coming in.
This is truly a legendary recruiting class that Duke has, and all six of these recruits should be good enough to be big contributors on the team next year. The Blue Devils might have too much talent, which is a good problem to have.
Duke is focused on the season at hand as they are four wins away from a national title, but if they do lose, thinking about the team that they are going to have next season will certainly make Blue Devils fans feel better.
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