It’s crazy to think how some moments wind up defining a person’s life. People rarely know when they’re going through a life-changing experience until they have some time to reflect on that.
That was the case with Duke coach Jon Scheyer. In a recent interview, he acknowledged that getting to know Cooper Flagg was actually a defining moment in his life.
He talked about how former NBA player Brian Scalabrine caught wind of Flagg’s talent and reached out to Scheyer to let him know about the high school phenom. The rest is history.
Jon Scheyer says meeting Cooper Flagg changed his life
“I told [Brian Scalabrine] he gave me the most important text of my life,” Scheyer said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. “And then we spoke on the phone. We’re fortunate to get these calls a good amount about a kid and this and that. There’s a part of you that’s like, ‘Alright, how good is this kid from Maine really? Like, come on.’ … And then you see him play, and it’s like, ‘Alright, I know exactly what Scal was talking about.'”
Unfortunately, Flagg and the Blue Devils couldn’t go the distance and finish the job by winning a national championship, but he had one of the best individual seasons in college basketball history.
Now, he’s taken his talents to the pros to play for the Dallas Mavericks, and while his days at Durham were short-lived, they clearly made a long-lasting impact on his coach.