Stepping Closer to Coach K’s Duke Home, No. 1 Prospect Cooper Flagg Braces Up for Long-Time Rivalry

Ranked as the No.1 player in high school, the Montverde power forward Cooper Flagg is taking an official visit to Duke this weekend. Grew up in Newport, Maine, Flagg attended Nokomis Regional High School. Moreover, he scored 22 points and 16 rebounds, leading Nokomis to a 43-27 win against Falmouth High School.

In August, Flagg announced his reclassification to the class of 2024. As a result, his recruitment 0began to heat up since then.

Cooper Flagg to visit Coach K’s home this weekend

Cooper reached new levels of popularity after his remarkable performance on the EYBL Circuit in the summer of this year. He played with his home team and averaged 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 4.5 blocks per game.

Although, Duke, Kansas, and UConn were mentioned in the recruitment process, however, the 5-star senior canceled his visit to Kansas, leaving the decision between the Duke Blue Devils and UConn. Last month, Flagg visited UConn which went well, there he also met the Huskies and their coach Dan Harley.

Now, on October 21st, Flagg along with his family will be visiting Duke and will meet Jon Scheyer, the Duke Blue Devils head coach. However, this will not be his first visit, as he unofficially took a trip and visited the program two months ago.

Apparently, Flagg’s upcoming visit at Duke will be his one before he makes his decision. Despite many anticipations inclined toward Duke to land Flagg’s services, UConn is not backing out of the push.

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However, if Cooper decides to go with Duke, he might have to brace himself for joining one of the greatest rivalries.

The Duke-UNC rivalry

In January 1920, Duke and North Carolina played their first basketball game. Since then, the two teams have competed at least twice a year. These games determine the ACC  (Atlantic Coast Conference) champion.

This rivalry is considered to be the most intense one in all of US sports. Evidently, in the year 2000, it was ranked the 3rd greatest basketball rivalry in North American sports by ESPN. Further, in its 2003 November issue, Sports Illustrated on Campus ranked it the No.1 ‘Hottest Rivalry’ in college basketball and No. 2 overall.

Notably, there are a number of reasons behind this rival intensity. One of them is the two universities situated within close proximity to each other, located only 10 miles apart by the Tobacco Road. Moreover, Carolina is a public school, while Duke is a private university. They both have different finding structures and cultures.

However, the prime reason behind this tussle lies in their basketball programs. It is almost every year that one of them is always contending for the national championship. And, Carolina is leading the race with 143-117.

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Is Flagg going to choose Duke, and if he does that, will he be able to stand out as a player amidst the age-old rivalry? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.