March Madness: Duke’s Cooper Flagg receives high praise from NBA star

Boston Celtics and former Duke star Jayson Tatum had high praise for current Duke star Cooper Flagg.

“The first impression I had of Coop was just how hard he played, how he competed,” Tatum, 27, said during a recent appearance on “New Heights.” 

“In high school, it’s rare to see a guy that wants to guard the other best player, trying to block every shot, rebounding. And he just plays the right way,” 

The Celtics star said he first saw Flagg play during his summer camp two years ago. 

“He has a great feel for the game. He knows how to set a screen. He knows when to cut. He likes to get his teammates involved, and it’s been on full display all season and a big reason why they have a chance to win a championship,” Tatum said.

Flagg has been the catalyst of a Duke team that is 33-3 and in the Sweet 16. 

The star freshman was a consensus All-American during the 2024-25 campaign and is the favorite to win Player of the Year after averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks per game. 

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However, Flagg sustained an ankle injury in Duke’s win over Georgia Tech in the ACC tournament quarterfinals and missed the rest of the ACC tournament. Duke still prevailed to win it.

Flagg returned from the injury in Duke’s dominant 93-49 win over No. 16-seeded Mount St. Mary’s and played 22 minutes, scoring 14 points and registering seven rebounds, five assists and a block. 

In the round of 32, Flagg played 29 minutes in Duke’s 89-66 win over Baylor. Flagg had 18 points, nine rebounds, six assists and one block in the win. 

Duke will rely on Flagg in the Sweet 16, where the Blue Devils face No. 4-seeded Arizona Thursday at 9:40 p.m. ET.

Tatum, who played at Duke for one season in 2016-2017, was unable to win a title in his lone year of college basketball. 

The St. Louis native averaged 16.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.1 blocks per game in 29 games. Tatum was the No. 3 overall pick by the Celtics in the 2017 NBA Draft. 

Tatum has spent all eight seasons of his NBA career with the Celtics, has been named to the All-Star team six times and was a key cog in the Celtics’ title run last season. 

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