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Cooper Flagg becomes sixth Duke player taken first overall in 2025 NBA Draft

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Cooper Flagg’s name was the first 1 heard on Wednesday night at the NBA Draft, with the Dallas Mavericks surprising nobody by taking the 18-year-old phenom who had a historical freshman season at Duke.

Flagg won just about every award there was to win last season in college basketball, and at the 79th edition of the NBA Draft in Brooklyn he was the ultimate prize. Dallas shockingly won the NBA Draft lottery this spring, and the Mavericks were in prime position to grab that prize, as long as they didn’t have other grand plans to trade the pick.

They didn’t, and so Flagg is theirs.

Flagg becomes the 6th Duke player to go No. 1 overall and the 2nd in just 4 years. Duke’s Paolo Banchero was the No. 1 overall pick in 2022 by the Orlando Magic, and now Flagg has added his name to that illustrious Duke list. The other 4 Duke players to go No. 1 are: Art Heyman (1963 to the New York Knicks); Elton Brand (1999 to the Chicago Bulls); Kyrie Irving (2011 to the Cleveland Cavaliers); and Zion Williamson (2019 to the New Orleans Pelicans).

Now, Flagg is part of that elite club after averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Blue Devils during his 1 and only season at Duke. The only thing Flagg didn’t do during his 1-and-done time at Duke is capture a national championship, with the Blue Devils falling short against Houston in the Final Four semifinals.

That’s ancient history for Flagg now, as he begins his NBA journey this fall in Dallas. All eyes will be on him, as many scouts have called him a generational talent. That will be proven out, 1 way or another, over the coming years.

But Wednesday night was Flagg’s night, and Dallas was the beneficiary.

Cory Nightingale

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.