It has been a wild month for Duke basketball freshman Cooper Flagg but the eventual superstar has returned back to Durham to complete the program’s offseason workouts.
Flagg left campus to compete with the USA Basketball Select Team at the beginning of July in its Olympic Team training camp after becoming the first college player to receive an invitation to participate since 2013.
Not only did the top ranked recruit get the chance to play with some of the best players in the NBA, he stole the show in scrimmages against the likes of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Jayson Tatum.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer also traveled to Las Vegas to see Flagg in action against Team USA and some thought he might have done enough to earn a spot on the Olympic roster after the dismissal of Kawhi Leonard, but Grant Hill, the managing director of USA Basketball, turned to Boston Celtics guard Derrick White instead.
After Flagg finished up training camp in Vegas, he took the short trip to Los Angeles for the ESPY Awards as he was presented with the Gatorade Best Male Player of the Year.
“It’s an honor to take home this award, and having it handed to me by some of the biggest names in basketball makes it even better,” Flagg said. “The list of former Gatorade Best Players of the Year speaks for itself, so it’s special to put my name next to theirs.”
Now, Cooper Flagg has returned to Durham and is finishing up the Blue Devils’ offseason workouts before getting a few weeks off prior to the start of the fall semester at the end of August.
Flagg and his brother, Ace, will be running a youth basketball camp in their home state of Maine on August 9 and 10.
Duke opens its season against the University of Maine on November 4 inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.