He visited Duke. Now he reclassified. Is Cooper Flagg close to becoming a Blue Devil?
If Duke basketball is able to land Cooper Flagg and Cameron Boozer, the Blue Devils won’t have to worry about shoehorning them into the same recruiting class.
On Friday, the 6-8 Flagg announced on social media he is reclassifying into the Class of 2024, where he’s already being touted as the No. 1 player in that class by national recruiting services.
For the past year, a debate has raged whether Flagg or the 6-9 Boozer — who both hold Duke offers — should be the No. 1 player in the 2025 recruiting class. That debate ended on Friday as Flagg, a Maine native who is playing high school basketball at Florida’s Montverde Academy, moved up a year.
His reclassification comes less than two weeks after Flagg made an unofficial visit to Duke’s campus on Aug. 1.
While in Durham, he posed for photos in Duke gear and posted them on his Instagram feed. That fueled speculation he had committed to the Blue Devils. But his mother, Kelly Flagg, shot that down.
“Not a commitment post,” she wrote in an Instagram comment under his photos. “Just the pics from his visit. Settle down folks.”
Even with that comment in mind, the Blue Devils are considered in strong position to land Flagg.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer and his assistants watched him frequently over the summer in the grassroots circuit. With Scheyer watching him at the Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C., last month, Flagg averaged 25.4 points, 13 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 6.9 blocked shots per game for Maine United.
In addition to Duke, Flagg holds offers from Villanova, UConn, Texas, Kansas, UCF, Providence and Kansas State among others.
Flagg’s reclassification comes one day before another top 2024 recruit of interest to Duke makes his college decision.
Flory Bidunga, a 6-10 center from Kokomo, Indiana, said on social media he will make his announcement on ESPNU Saturday night during an Under Armour Elite 24 high school basketball game broadcast that’s scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Duke, Michigan, Kansas and Auburn are among his four finalists.
Prior to Flagg’s reclassification, Bidunga was rated the No. 1 center in the class and the No. 4 player overall. He averaged 20.2 points and a state-leading 13.8 rebounds as a junior at Kokomo High School last season when he was named Gatorade’s Indiana player of the year.
Duke has two committed players for the 2024 class in 6-6 forward Isaiah Evans from North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville and 6-6 forward Darren Harris from Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Virginia.
The Blue Devils anticipate having a need to add big men to the 2024-25 team because 7-foot sophomore Kyle Filipowski and 6-9 sophomore Mark Mitchell are likely to head to the NBA after this season.
This story was originally published August 11, 2023 at 5:11 PM with the headline "He visited Duke. Now he reclassified. Is Cooper Flagg close to becoming a Blue Devil?."