Duke star Cooper Flagg is headed to the NBA as the favorite to be the No. 1 overall draft pick.
The program announced Flagg's move in a social media post Monday following a lone college season that saw the 18-year-old become only the fourth freshman named as The Associated Press national player of the year while leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four.
Flagg had reclassified to get to Duke a year early, and his decision was expected all year, even as he generally declined to spell out plans about his professional future as the season pushed into March or mentioned how much fun he had playing in college.
''I mean, it's been an incredible year with a really great group of people," Flagg told the AP in March after winning national player of the year.
The 6-foot-9, 205-pound forward from Newport, Maine, averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals to lead the Blue Devils in each category. He's a versatile threat who showed the ability to thrive as a scorer, playmaker and defender.
''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,'' Duke coach Jon Scheyer said in a social media video from the program about Flagg's NBA declaration.
''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.''
The statistical highlight came when Flagg scored 42 points to set an Atlantic Coast Conference freshman record against Notre Dame in January, along with having 30 points, six rebounds and seven assists to help Duke hold off Arizona in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16. There were plenty of impressive single plays, too, that demanded highlight-reel placement like his transition dunk through a defender against Pittsburgh in January.
