The Duke Blue Devils are the team to beat in all of college basketball right now. Jon Scheyer’s team will enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 team in the entire nation.
Of course, a lot of that has to do with Cooper Flagg, who’s had a stellar freshman season at Durham, averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, four assists, and 1.2 blocks per game.
With that in mind, Illinois coach Brad Underwood made a case for Flagg to return to college next season, citing that he could do for the men’s game what Caitlin Clark did for women’s college hoops.
Cooper Flagg can be the Caitlin Clark of male college basketball
“If he stays in college, Flagg is destined to become the face of college basketball and elevate the game, much like Caitlin Clark did on the women’s side,” coach Underwood said.
Needless to say, it’s not like Caitlin Clark chose to stay in Iowa. The WNBA has different eligibility rules, and she wasn’t eligible to enter the WNBA Draft before last season.
That’s not the case with Flagg, who’s projected to be the first-overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, so his chances of waiving that off to return to college seem slim at best right now.