Duke standout freshman Cooper Flagg, who won the Wooden Award and is projected to go No. 1 overall in June, officially declared for the NBA Draft on Monday.

Flagg posted a video on social media.

“Duke fans, my teammates, the brotherhood, everybody that was along for the journey,” he said. “It was an incredible year, probably the best year of my life, and I have so much gratitude and I feel so blessed for all the opportunities that I was given. Duke has always been a dream for me, but I’m excited to announce that I’ll be entering my name into the 2025 NBA draft.

“Today is just the beginning, but I have the Brotherhood with me for life.”

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Flagg, who reclassified in 2023, has been the consensus favorite to be selected with the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft after entering as the No. 1 high school prospect in the 2024 class.

In his one year at Duke, Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game, helping the team to reach the Final Four with a 35-4 record.

“Really proud of Cooper for the special season that he had this year,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said. “I think the accolades speak for itself, with what he did, winning every National Player of the Year award. His highlights, his statistics, the ways he impacted the game on both ends of the floor, really in every category, was off the charts. As good of a freshman season that a guy has had here.

“But to me, the separator and the joy of coaching Cooper is the person he was every day, the teammate that he was. Never about statistics or anything other than creating an environment and helping his team to win. And we won a lot of games and had a lot of success, and a lot of times that environment is created from your best player. And Cooper did an incredible job in every facet of our program, on and off the court, with what he’s done.”

A unanimous National Player of the Year, he became just the fourth freshman ever to receive the Wooden Award.

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Article by Avery Torff

Avery Torff is a uSports writer. Follow him Twitter & Instagram: @torffusports

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