Duke Recruiting - Cooper Flagg Update

As decision time draws ever closer

As you probably know, Cooper Flagg is down to two schools, Duke and UConn, and while most of us here are hoping he’ll pick Duke, really he’d do well at either school. Cameron is a very special place and we don’t think UConn can match it, so that’s something to consider, but certainly they have a great tradition too and we’ve always had immense respect for the Hurley family.

But Duke gets the last visit, and Flagg will be here for Countdown to Craziness, so he’ll get an idea of what Cameron can be like, and for some guys, that’s huge. When Shane Battier got to campus, the story was that he ran up and started peeking in the windows he was so excited. It’s just that there's nothing else quite like it in college basketball.

But that said, it’s his decision and while getting him would be huge, it won’t break either school to lose out on him.

Here’s an article where Flagg talks about what he thought after his visit to UConn and what he’s looking forward to at Duke: “I am excited about seeing an actual practice. Seeing how coach Scheyer operates during an actual practice and stuff and kind of get a feel for that, see the campus more and getting to hang out with the players.”

From the clips we’ve seen, we’re struck with how differently Scheyer runs practice. Not that one way is better than another, but he seems more...for lack of a better word approachable than did Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K understood that his anger could have been a problem but he harnessed it and made it a valuable tool. Scheyer, from all appearances, has a more steady personality. And as we have said before, when it comes to his coaching future we’ve heard the word prodigy mentioned.

Incidentally, if you watch the clip we linked today, it’s easy to see how that sort of offensive movement, along with great shooters, would great for Flagg. He’s going to be a focus wherever he goes, but what Scheyer is putting together in Durham is going to make double-teaming Flagg almost impossible.

Whatever happens, our advice is not to get too high or too low before the announcement. If Flagg chooses Duke though, we’re probably all going to go a little bit crazy. But wait for him before you do.