Duke Blue Devils basketball lands top high school basketball recruit in Class of 2024
Duke’s full-court press to land its top recruiting target has found success once again.
Cooper Flagg, the 6-8 forward rated the No. 1 player in the 2024 recruiting class, committed to play for the Blue Devils Monday morning.
Long a Duke target, Flagg said Duke was his dream school early in the recruiting process. Still, he whittled his choices down to the Blue Devils and reigning NCAA champion Connecticut.
He visited UConn last month, coincidentally on the same weekend Duke’s football team beat the Huskies, 41-7, on their home field.
Flagg made an unofficial visit to Duke this past summer and, shortly thereafter, reclassified from the 2025 class to begin his college career a year early. He made his official visit to Duke last weekend, attending the program’s Countdown to Craziness event and watching the Blue-White scrimmage from courtside.
“I think,” ESPN recruiting analyst Paul Biancardi said. “it’s a statement recruit for Jon in many ways in terms of getting, not only the best player in the country, but in my mind, he’s the best rising senior that I’ve seen in decades”
Already rated as one of the top players in the 2025 class earlier this year, Flagg’s profile grew brighter on the national level when he turned in triple-double performances at July’s Nike Peach Jam event in North Augusta, S.C.
In that tournament’s pool play, Flagg’s Maine United team played a Florida-based Nightrydas team that featured top 2025 players Cayden and Cameron Boozer. Flagg finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as his team won, 73-65.
Flagg averaged 25.4 points, 13 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 6.9 blocked shots in Peach Jam play.
Even though Duke was long considered the leader for Flagg, the fact that Scheyer got the commitment can’t be overstated, Biancardi said.
“It’s really important because you’re talking about the number one player in the class,” Biancardi said. “He’s an impact player at the collegiate level. He’s likely the number one pick in the draft with his continued progress and development. It continues Duke’s eliteness on the recruiting trail.”
Flagg’s commitment moved Duke to the No. 1 spot in the national recruiting rankings. He’s the third five-star recruit to commit to the Blue Devils in the 2024 class, joining 6-6 forward Isaiah Evans from Huntersville’s North Mecklenburg High School and 6-5 forward Kon Knueppel from Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Lutheran School. Evans is the No.11 player in the class and Knueppel is the No. 16 player, according to 247sports.com.
Duke also has a four-star player, 6-6 Darren Harris of Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, Virginia, committed for next season.
Another Paul VI player, 6-10 center Patrick Ngongba, has Duke among his three finalists along with Kansas State and Kentucky. He’s planning to make his commitment on Saturday. He visited Kansas State last weekend and was at Duke for Countdown to Craziness the prior weekend along with Flagg.
This story was originally published October 30, 2023 at 8:27 AM.