When speaking about the hype surrounding Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg, there is no doubt it will be a massive story for any college basketball fan to follow this upcoming season. Flagg has been the talk of the basketball world as Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer spoke about the expectations surrounding the 17-year old.
It's widely expected that Flagg could very well be the No. 1 overall pick in next year's NBA Draft, but first, he has to impress with the Blue Devils. Scheyer would go on to say that even with his experience, he doesn't remember ever seeing these type of expectations for someone this young according to The Athletic.
“I’ve seen a lot of different seasons, different hype, different expectations. With Cooper, I don’t know if we’ve ever had a 17-year-old with as much attention around him — and a lot of it rightfully so with the high school career he’s had and what he’s done,” Scheyer said.
“But we talk about all the things we can control. And that’s been our focus,” Scheyer continued. “Cooper does an amazing job of coming to practice to work every day. I don’t think he likes the attention, to be honest. I think he’s all about, he wants to be just like the other guys in terms of not caring about the attention, wanting to win, wanting to compete.”
Duke basketball's Cooper Flagg will have highs and lows per Jon Scheyer
Flagg even impressed with Team USA's select team which was the practice squad facing the real one in preparation for the Paris Olympics. Still, it's expected that Flagg should have some leeway to start as even Scheyer says that it's expected that he will have his lows with also the highs.
“He’s 17. So, beginning of the season, he’s going to go through some stuff. That’s part of it,” Scheyer said.
“But being there for him in those moments and growing as a player is why he came to Duke,” Scheyer continued. “So I want this to be — I want him to enjoy this year. I want him to enjoy the practices, enjoy being a student at Duke, enjoy with his teammates and obviously work like crazy to become a better player. And that’s what we’re doing on a daily basis.”
Consequently, Duke basketball's first exhibition game will be on Oct. 19 against Lincoln which leads to the regular season opener against Maine on Nov. 4. There is no doubt that with Flagg at the lead, the Blue Devils will be a team to beat when the season gets officially underway.