Duke basketball: UNC champion showers Cooper Flagg with praise

A North Carolina champion keeps praising a major Duke basketball recruit. 

The hype surrounding Duke basketball recruiting target Cooper Flagg has officially hit those close to Chapel Hill and even they are amazed by what the top prospect in the country is doing.

Theo Pinson, a National Champion with the Tar Heels, discussed Flagg on his podcast, Run Your Race, with AJ Richardson.

“Cooper (Flagg) a problem,” Pinson emphatically said.

“The biggest thing to me is that mentality. He got that mentality.”

Flagg recently reclassified from 2025 into 2024 and is seemingly down to three schools — although not officially announced — Duke, Kansas, and UConn.

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The 6-foot-9 forward took an unofficial visit to Durham at the beginning of August but is planning on taking official visits to all three programs this fall.

“He a dog and he want the smoke. That’s why I respect him,” Richardson, a former NFL wide receiver, added.

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There had always been buzz surrounding the Maine native and where he compared to Cameron Boozer, another Duke recruiting target, who had been the longstanding top player in the 2025 class until Nike’s EYBL Peach Jam.

Flagg stole the show in South Carolina after he averaged 25.6 points, 13.0 rebounds, 5.7 assists, and 6.8 blocks in just seven games, including two triple-double’s comprised of points, rebounds, and blocks.

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Cooper Flagg finished the E16 EYBL season with 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game.

Most recently, he drilled a game-tying 3-point buzzer beater to send the game into overtime at the SLAM Summer Classic at Rucker Park.

Duke has all six 247Sports Crystal Ball Predictions to land Flagg as well as six predictions logged on Rivals‘ FutureCast.

Rumors have circulated that Cooper Flagg will be taking his official visit to Durham for Duke’s annual Countdown to Craziness on October 20.