NCAAB News: Cooper Flagg had a historically lucrative NIL deal at Duke

For years, college basketball programs denied what everybody knew. They were paying players and giving them perks to get them to join their programs, which was against the rules.

Now, the NIL era has allowed programs to do that upfront, all while the players are free to sign endorsement deals. Needless to say, that has been very lucrative to some.

Notably, that includes Duke superstar Cooper Flagg, the highest-ranked prospect in his class. According to a report by sports journalist and author Howard Bryant, the young forward made a lot of money as a freshman.

Cooper Flagg made $28 million in college

“He had a $13 million deal with New Balance and then $15 million with Fanatics,” Bryant revealed.

Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils

With that kind of money, he could’ve definitely stayed on campus for at least another season, like he said he wanted. Then again, that was never a realistic possibility.

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Now, one can only wonder how much money the projected first-overall pick is going to make off endorsements alone, with his first NBA contract projected to fetch something close to four years and $62 million.