Flagg thrives for No. 7 Duke in college basketball debut against his home-state program

NCAA Basketball: Maine at Duke cooper flagg flag

DURHAM, N.C. — Cooper Flagg felt nerves and excitement ahead of his highly anticipated regular-season debut for No. 7 Duke in its famed Cameron Indoor Stadium. Coming out of the tunnel to see the opponent wearing the jersey of his home-state program — one with long ties to his family — added a little extra feeling.

The nation’s No. 1-ranked recruit and preseason Associated Press All-American had 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and one flashy dunk to help the Blue Devils beat Maine 96-62 on Monday night.

It came against a program where his mother played basketball, where the Newport, Maine, native went to games while he was growing up about 30 minutes away from the campus. And where his brother Ace — who was sitting behind the Black Bears bench while their parents sat behind the Duke sideline — will play next year.

“I think even for me, it was a little more emotional walking out seeing the Maine across their chest,” Cooper Flagg said. “Obviously, that’s a team that I grew up watching when I was young. Seeing them gave me a lot more emotions and knowing it was the first real game. It was definitely a high-emotion game for me, but I was able to just take it in stride and handle business.”

The 6-foot-9 forward didn’t have a hot-shooting start to a career that is all but certain to be a single-year stopover on the way to the NBA as a possible No. 1 overall pick. But he turned in an all-around floor game that had him making plays on the glass, as a facilitator and bringing the ball up in transition all the same.

He made 6 of 15 shots in his roughly 30 minutes of work, making all six of his free throws but missing all four of his 3-point shots — including a couple in the first half that either rolled or rattled out. But he also glided across the court to make his presence felt within the flow of the game, including a pair of waved-off finishes after the whistle that would have counted as and-1s with…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/flagg-thrives-no-7-duke-145902186.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-11-05 14:59:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.