Cooper Flagg showed why so many NBA teams want him — including the Jazz

NEWARK, N.J. — In Cooper Flagg's most outstanding player performance in the East regional finals of the NCAA men's basketball tournament, the Duke freshman showed exactly why virtually every college team was recruiting him and any NBA team would tank to draft him.

Flagg had 16 points, nine rebounds, three assists and a block in the Blue Devils' 85-65 win over Alabama in the East regional final Saturday night.

The freshman didn't have his best game, shooting 6-of-16 from the field with just one made 3-pointer.

But in the wire-to-wire win and the Crimson Tide trying to extend the game with a double-digit deficit, Flagg was on the court, with the ball in his hands, helping Duke close out an Elite Eight win for its first Final Four appearance since Mike Krzyzewski's last season in 2022.

It's the first time since 2008 that all four No. 1 seeds — Auburn, Duke, Houston and Florida — advanced to the Final Four. The higher-seeded team went 12-0 in regional semifinals and finals for the first time since the tournament expanded in 1985.

Talent is adding up in college basketball, including on Flagg's team.

"We have such a talented team," Flagg said. "Each night could be anyone else's night."

He's considered one of the top talents in the sport, and perhaps generational by Duke fans as he navigated the Blue Devils under 37-year-old head coach Jon Scheyer in his third season leading his alma mater.

Generational talent? Don't take our word for it; listen to Ken Jeong, the former "Community" star who graduated from Duke and went to medical school at North Carolina — which he jokingly refers to as the reason he became a comedian and actor.

"This is the most special team I've seen in a long, long time at Duke," Jeong said on the court Saturday night at the Prudential Center. "Cooper Flagg is a generational talent; easily the most complete freshman Duke has ever had, and the most complete defender.

"Toward the end of the season, he played like a sophomore, and in the postseason like a junior and senior. He's playing like a veteran right now."

Beyond being a budding basketball superstar, Flagg is — per his teammates — a teenager with a heart of gold and an occasional introverted streak.

"I mean, he's just a kid," said Tyrese Proctor, the junior guard from Sydney, Australia, alongside Flagg at the podium during an off day at Prudential Center. "I mean, he's always joking around and stuff. But no, he's cool. He's cool."

But back to basketball, where plenty of NBA teams would do enough to draft him — including the Utah Jazz.

At 16-59 with just one win in its last 10 games, the Jazz are pushing to position themselves in the NBA's "tank race" for Flagg, a 6-foot-9 forward from Newport, Maine, who is seen as the most generational talent of this year's college crop.

Utah's record is tied with Washington and Charlotte for the best odds at the No. 1 pick in April's NBA draft lottery at 14%, according to tankathon.com. The trio have roughly the same odds at earning the No. 2, 3 and 4 pick, as well, at 13.4%, 12.7% and 12.0%, respectively.

Of course, there's also a 47.9% chance Utah's own tank could wind up with the fifth overall pick — outpacing the Wizards and Hornets, though the Jazz can't finish lower at the moment.

What could a Utah Jazz draft board look like in the top five? There's also the Rutgers freshman duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, and Baylor five-star freshman V.J. Edgecombe, who averaged 16.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

And yet, Flagg — a 205-pound specimen who scores at a 19-points per game clip while averaging 7.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists — may be in a class of his own.

If an NBA team is going to bet on anyone, it seems likely they'll bet on a freshman — and Flagg may be the surest bet.

"Age is just a number," Duke's Scheyer said. "And, obviously, it's different to have three freshmen starting (including Flagg). What, tonight we played five freshmen on a team that's going to a Final Four. I think for our program, we've always though about doing things differently."

Flagg hasn't formally declared for the NBA draft, but he is expected to be the first overall pick, regardless of the team at the top. For now, he contends, his thoughts are squarely on the Blue Devils' first Final Four appearance since 2022.

"I haven't really, I guess, taken much time to look back and look at the year we've had," Flagg said. "Something I'm most proud of is our team as a whole coming together and being so connected, going into so many battles together and just coming out with a lot of wins."

He's also been primed for the Association for years, since the consensus five-star prospect was the first high school freshman to be named Maine Gatorade Player of the Year after averaging 20.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 3.7 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while leading Class A Nokomis Regional to a Maine state title in his lone season of public school basketball.

He transferred to national power Montverde Academy in 2022, when he was the MVP of the U17 men's World Cup for Team USA and was one of 15 athletes selected to train with the U.S. Olympic team ahead of the Paris Summer Games.

But he's also a college student, a teenager and "a great guy to be around off the court," said teammate Kon Knueppel.

"Obviously, he's my roommate," said Knueppel, who had 21 points, five rebounds and five assists against Alabama, "He's very kind but kind of keeps to himself. He likes to joke around. He's a good guy. He's good to us even when he's talking crap."

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