Could plethora of preseason attention on Cooper Flagg potentially prove dangerous?

Cooper Flagg. Most people around college basketball know the #1 ranked recruit in the class of 2025 and the projected #1 overall 2025 NBA Draft selection. But, if you don't, there he is.

From his reclassification into the class of 2025, to his commitment to Duke, to his recent performance in Duke's first exhibition game, Flagg has been regarded for a long time as maybe the most hyped-up college prospect over the last twenty years.

Names like Anthony Davis and Andrew Wiggins pop into mind over the last decade as guys that entered college and were immediately in the argument for the best players in the country before their time on a college court even began.

This is no different for Flagg. He was recently named to the Preseason All-America Team, was the almost-unanimous Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year, was second in voting for Preseason ACC Player of the Year, and was named to Preseason All-ACC First Team. He also sits with the second-best odds to win the National Player of the Year award at +1200.

Needless to say, fans and experts around the sport are projecting Flagg to be an unstoppable force in college this year and cruise his way to a big paycheck in the NBA once his freshman campaign is over.

But I can't help thinking about the potential negatives of all this attention. Some don't know that Flagg doesn't even turn eighteen years old until December 21st, which is almost two months into the season. Not that this means all that much as Wiggins reclassed in high school as well, but in the landscape of college athletics today, many people forget how young these players really are.

The persona Flagg carries himself with shows no reason for fans to think he would let all of this attention get to his head, especially since he's had cameras on him for several years already, deemed one of the best prospects the game has seen in a long time.

Granted, with this similar amount of attention that came with guys like Davis and Wiggins, both saw success during their lone season in college. Davis became the second freshman ever to win the National Player of the Year Award along with several other accolades en route to leading Kentucky to a national championship in 2012. Wiggins was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year and was a Second Team All-American in 2014 at Kansas. Both were also selected #1 overall in their respective NBA Drafts.

Although there's no direction to point to that would suggest possible Flagg struggles with all the attention that will be on him this season, in today's college sports landscape, it's not that difficult to see a seventeen year old having issues with that, especially with a brand like Duke.

In Duke's recent exhibition game against Division II Lincoln (PA), Flagg looked incredible. He led the team with 22 points on 50% shooting to go along with six assists and four blocks. He looks like a once-in-a-decade type of prospect in terms of his defensive versatility, and his outside shot already looks so much smoother than it did during his high school days.

Even with the incomparable talent Flagg brings to Durham this year, it seems relevant to bring up whether all this attention could hurt him. Only time will tell, and we're two weeks away from watching the Blue Devils suit up for the first time in the regular season against Maine.