The 2025 NBA draft is 19 months away, but one thing already is clear: Cooper Flagg will be a lottery pick, most likely the No. 1 overall selection.
Flagg recently committed to play for Jon Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils in 2024-25, but expectations are that after a single season in Durham, North Carolina, he will head to the NBA.
Listed at 6-foot-9, 195 pounds, Flagg is viewed as a franchise-altering player. The once-in-a-decade type of No. 1 pick, per Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman.
“The draft conversations around the league now pinpoint Flagg as one of the better No. 1 overall candidates of the decade,” Wasserman writes. “At 6-9 with outrageous defensive instincts, standout passing IQ and athleticism for off-ball playmaking/play-finishing, he’s quickly developing more creation and shot-making skill, just in time for a projected role change at Montverde with Sean Stewart headed to Duke and Kwame Evans going to Oregon.
“There isn’t a player in high school basketball — or even the 2024 draft — capable of impacting games in more ways than Flagg can,” Wasserman continued. “As long as he continues to show progress with his shooting, there won’t be any in-season debate next year about who’s going No. 1.”
Before that though, Flagg and Montverde Academy will be in Utah next week for a pair of games against Wasatch Academy and American Fork High.
Montverde will play Wasatch Academy on Monday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m., and will then play American Fork on Nov. 21, at 6 p.m.
Both games, per Montverde, will be in Pleasant Grove.
The Cavemen are ranked No. 52 in the country, per MaxPreps, after a run to the 6A state championship game last season.
Wasatch Academy and Montverde Academy, meanwhile, were both ranked as top-eight high school basketball teams nationally by MaxPreps before the season started, Montverde No. 1 overall, Wasatch Academy No. 8.
Writes Jordan Divens about Montverde: “Six-time GEICO Nationals champions look to continue their recent dominance led by Duke commit Cooper Flagg along with additional highly-regarded Class of 2024 prospects Derik Queen, Liam McNeeley, Asa Newell, Robert Wright III and Curtis Givens. The Eagles captured three consecutive national titles under head coach Kevin Boyle before finishing No. 2 in national rankings last season.”
As for Wasatch Academy, Divens writes: “The Tigers have their most talented roster under fourth-year head coach Paul Peterson with impact returners including five-star Class of 2025 prospect Isiah Harwell and top 100 TCU commit Malick Diallo joined by highly-regarded incoming talent San Diego State commit Taj Degourville, top 50 Ohio State commit John Mobley Jr. and top 40 Class of 2025 forward Chris Nwuli.”