Duke's upside goes beyond Flagg

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1. Duke’s roster is more than Cooper Flagg

Incoming Duke freshman Cooper Flagg — the No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2024 and a probable preseason All-American — has earned plenty of headlines this summer thanks to his recruiting profile and on-court performance against Team USA.

Heck, we’ve led a couple newsletters this summer with Flagg.

It’s hard to avoid given how Flagg plays and the plaudits from other players this summer. Flagg may have been “nervous” when he was on the court with LeBron, Steph and the other NBA stars, but his play and cool demeanor are just part of why most think he’s headed for a BIG season.

But here’s the thing: Flagg IS going to be good. But he’s not going to be going it alone. Not with the talent on Duke’s roster.

Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman discussed how Duke coach Jon Scheyer built the 2024-25 roster to support Flagg’s skills, both with the portal and with other prep players. This wasn’t just a talent accumulation, but trying to find players who would fit into the overall approach, not to mention returning players Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster.

The transfers include:

• Maliq Brown, 6-8 junior from Syracuse (excellent defender)

• Mason Gillis, 6-6 senior from Purdue (good perimeter shooter, all-around fit)

• Sion James, 6-6 senior from Tulane (athletic, solid shooter, excellent defender)

While the freshman include:

• 7-2 center Khaman Maluach, who just played with South Sudan in the Olympics

• 6-5 sharpshoot Kon Knueppel

• 6-10 big man Patrick Ngongba

• 6-6 wing Darren Harris

Before adding those three transfers, most looked at wondered if it would be talented, but too reliant on freshmen. That’s been an issue for freshman-laden teams the last few years. But this is now one of the more experienced rosters Duke’s had since 1987. Check out this chart by Andrew Weatherman.

Much of that is from Gillis, James and Brown, who combine for more than 300 games played and more than 8300 minutes. Only Brown’s played vs. ACC teams, but Gillis is tested, and James should make the jump from the AAC just fine.

Assuming Proctor and Foster progress as expected — they should be 20-30 minute players and average about 20-25 points and 4-8 assists between them — it’s a squad that deserving of Top 10 predictions, and possibly higher, depending on how good you think Flagg will be.

fwiw, Barttorvik.com projects Duke as No. 2 overall, with James and Brown as the No. 5 and No. 6 in total minutes, with Gillis behind Evans for No. 8.

The season can’t get here soon enough.

2. Thad Matta’s getting into a recruiting groove

I’m old enough to remember when the “Thad Five” was a thing. Harkens back to a day when Thad Matta could recruit with just about anyone.

After five years off from basketball, and a first year at Butler, Matta’s recruiting touch is starting to return.

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