Is Cooper Flagg Having The Best Freshman Season In Duke’s History?

In the final home game of the 2024-25 regular season, the “Cameron Crazies” serenaded freshman Cooper Flagg with “one more year” chants after his 28 point, 8 rebound, 7 assist performance against Wake Forest.

This was already Flagg’s 14th game of the season scoring 20 or more points, which goes right alongside his season average of 19.6 points per game.

With one game remaining ahead of the ACC Tournament, Flagg currently leads the conference with 587 total points on the year, and will likely finish first or second for the AP Player of the Year.

But, where does this freshman season rank in the storied history of the Blue Devils program?

If Flagg were to win the honor, he would be the eighth Duke player to be deemed the best in college basketball. Of this group of Duke royalty, Flagg would join Zion Williamson as the only other true freshman to earn the honor.

Flagg and Williamson are far from the only two freshmen to perform at this high of a level as a teenager.

In fact, these two trail Williamson’s former teammate R.J. Barrett for the highest point-per-game mark for a first-year player in Durham.

If we change the measuring statistics to Win Shares instead of points per game, which assesses the overall value of the player, Williamson and Flagg are one and two respectively.

But, if we look deeper into these metrics, does Flagg already have a case to surpass Williamson?

After 33 games in the 2018-19 season, Williamson finished averaging 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks a game. The former first-overall pick ended his freshman campaign with the highest field goal percentage, effective field goal percentage and two-point field goal percentage in the ACC, and that percentage from inside the arc stands as the best in Division-1 basketball history.

While these metrics clear Flagg’s current per-game numbers, all in a league average that was scoring the ball less than the 2024-25 league averages, the difference in teammates for Williamson and Flagg deserves to be recognized.

Nobody is claiming Flagg is operating solo for the Blue Devils, but the recruiting class for Mike Krzyzewski was known at the time to be one of the best in recent history.

With a 32-6 overall record, Duke features the likes of Barett, Cam Reddish, Tre Jones and Marques Bolden on their loaded roster. All of which not only found their way on NBA rosters, but were all ranked within the Top-15 of their RSCI rankings.

While Coach K’s replacement Jon Scheyer compiled a talented roster himself, the Blue Devils only feature one other member of the RSCI Top-15.

While individual player rankings are not the best barometer of a roster’s depth, Flag’s overall production is much more essential to Duke’s success than Williamson’s was to the 2018-19 season.

While individual player rankings are not the best barometer of a roster’s depth, Flag’s overall production is much more essential to Duke’s success than Williamson’s was to the 2018-19 season.

In just a six-game sample size when Williams missed the end of the season due to injury, Duke only managed to go 3-3 in those games. While this winning percentage was below their season average, two losses came to North Carolina, and the third was against Virginia Tech.

Flagg has played in all 30 Duke games this season, and the Blue Devils’ three losses came to Kentucky, Kansas, and Clemson.

If Flagg were to have missed time this regular season, it is only speculation to determine how the team would fare. However, with his overall impact on his team night in and night out, it is no secret that the depth of the team would be truly tested.

So, the argument between Flagg and Williamson as the best freshmen in Duke’s program history has a strong argument on both sides.

However, with the biggest games of the season ahead of Flagg, and arguably the only factor missing in the former top-ranked high school prospect’s first year in college is a signature moment, Flagg’s performance in March could bring the debates to a close one way or another.