Freshman forward Cooper Flagg and the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils open their competition in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament on Friday afternoon against No. 16 Mount St. Mary’s. Following the conclusion of March Madness in early April,

Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg is widely projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, and he's already drawing comparisons to some of the league's best players. ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo spoke to a Western Conference general manager who said scouts have told them that Flagg has traits similar to arguably the best two-way player in the NBA.

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg has held the top spot in ESPN's Top 100 rankings since we first projected the 2025 NBA draft class more than a year ago. Despite starting the season as the projected No. 1 pick,