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Duke basketball campaigning for Cooper Flagg to sweep ACC individual awards

The Blue Devils want to make sure the conference's award voters know how valuable its superstar has been
ByKevin Connelly|
Mar 3, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Hunter Sallis (23) drives to the basket as Duke basketball forward Cooper Flagg (2) defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Mar 3, 2025; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Wake Forest Demon Deacons guard Hunter Sallis (23) drives to the basket as Duke basketball forward Cooper Flagg (2) defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Cooper Flagg is going to win the ACC Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year Awards but the Duke basketball team is campaigning for him to sweep the three major individual honors later this month.  

Entering college, the most underrated part of Flagg’s game has been his defense and that has continued to go unnoticed throughout his freshman season with the Blue Devils because of how elite he is on the offensive side of the floor, but the Duke social media team has his back.

The program posted twice on Thursday about Flagg’s defense, one noting that Flagg has the best defensive rating among ACC player – which includes five Blue Devils in the top seven slots – as well as his individual defensive metrics.

The conversation was started when college basketball analyst Terrence Oglesby posted his ACC awards ballot on social media, which did include Flagg winning the Player and Rookie of the Year but saw Clemson’s Jaeden Zackery winning the Defensive Player of the Year.

“Flagg is incredible and the analytics are going to favor him but I’ve never seen a dude “cut off the water” like Zackery does on a nightly basis,” he posted.

Oglesby said his order of finish for the award were Zackery, Flagg, and Louisville’s Chucky Hepburn but did have Sion James and Khaman Maluach on his All-Defensive Team.

It’s not the first time this week that the Blue Devils social media group has backed Cooper Flagg for an award as they made their push for the freshman to win the National Player of the Year over Johni Broom, which has now seen Flagg become the betting favorite once again.

Flagg averaged 22.0 points per game in his last two contests while Broome only posted 8.5 points per game in Auburn’s last two outings. The margin between the two players is so close that the favorite could change on a game-by-game basis.

Cooper Flagg and the No. 2 Blue Devils will look to finish the season strong on the road against rival North Carolina on Saturday night (6:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).

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