Cooper Flagg Named Mr. Basketball USA, Bolstering Duke’s Legacy

Wilt Chamberlain became the inaugural recipient of the Mr. Basketball USA award in 1955. Since then, nearly all winners of this prestigious honor have transitioned to the NBA, with an exception in the case of Cameron Boozer, a five-star forward and 2025 Duke basketball prospect. Despite being only a junior in high school, Boozer garnered this recognition as a sophomore last year.

This year’s Mr. Basketball USA title, bestowed by Ballislife.com on Friday, has been conferred upon incoming five-star Blue Devils forward, Cooper Flagg. He becomes just the fourth Duke commit to attain this distinction. Notably, Flagg is the third player to achieve this honor since 2018 and the second under the tenure of Duke’s head coach, Jon Scheyer.

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There remains a possibility for Duke to increase its tally to five if Boozer, the son of former 2001 Blue Devils national champion Carlos Boozer, opts to commit to Scheyer’s squad in the future.

Presently, Flagg joins the ranks of notable Blue Devils alumni recipients, including Dariq Whitehead (2022) and RJ Barrett (2018) from Montverde Academy (Fla.), along with Danny Ferry (1985) from DeMatha Catholic (Md.).

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Eight out of the ten esteemed panelists awarded Cooper Flagg the honor. Standing tall at 6-foot-9 and weighing 200 pounds, Flagg is a phenom who holds the No. 1 overall ranking on the 247Sports 2024 Composite. He is poised to become the cornerstone of the 2024-25 Blue Devils roster. Notably, the remaining first-place votes were cast in favor of Dylan Harper, a five-star guard from Don Bosco Prep (N.J.) and a signee for Rutgers in 2024, who was a long-time target for Duke basketball.