NBA Star Says Cooper Flagg Should Stay At Duke, With 1 Exception

Duke fans love Maine's own Cooper Flagg so much, they are already chanting "One More Year"

Cooper Flagg has been arguably the best college basketball player in the country at just 18, and unless something truly bizzare happens, he will be the #1 pick in the NBA Draft in June.

As we get ready for March Madness, where Duke will definetely be in the mix to win it all, one former NBA star had some advice to pass on to the Maine native.

Former NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, thinks Flagg should stay in college, on one conditon, being that if the Utah Jazz get the top pick, he should play there.

Cousins, via FanDuel TV's Run It Back, said the following:

"Cooper Flagg... Go back to Duke or the Jazz brother. Pelicans, you'll get lost in the sauce with the Saints. Wizards, they don't care. Hornets, we just finished a whole 30-minute segment on them... Utah, you'll be a hero."

As a freshman, Flagg is already making a significant impact for the Duke Blue Devils. They are 27-3 and poised to make a big run for the NCAA championship.

He was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and Naismith Player of the Year in 2024, averaging 16.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.7 blocks per game in his senior year at Montverde Academy.

Flagg has already made history by becoming the first men's college basketball player to sign a deal with Gatorade.

When people think of Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, the first thing that comes to mind is the very high standard of the musicians in their jazz program over the years, but Flagg helped put hoops on the map too.

A few years back, after leading Nokomis to a 21-1 record, on the way to the Class A State Championship, Cooper Flagg started turning heads.

Michigan and UCLA, were the first to offer Flagg a scholarship to play ball after high school, but the chance to play for THE powerhouse of college basketball, the Duke Blue Devils, was just too good to pass up.

Flagg is a crazy six feet, eight inches tall. He can shoot the ball extremely well and is super athletic. He has a nose for rebounding and has perfect timing when it comes to shot-blocking.