The Blue Devils stand on the brink of glory. After an exceptionally successful conference season, Cooper Flagg and his team are looking towards a championship. They have one game left in the regular season, and that is against a challenging North Carolina team. Hubert Davis and his Tar Heels have been absolutely demolishing their opponents for the last few games, and look to continue their win-streak against Duke.
However, it isn’t that easy to beat the #2 ranked team in the country. The Blue Devils have a very lengthy roster, being one of the tallest squads in college basketball. On top of that, Jon Scheyer knows what it means to win. He has seen Duke win it all, once as a player, and once as a coach. But Tar Heels alum Tyler Hansbrough believes that North Carolina might be able to get an edge over Duke.
On The Field of 68: After Dark, show hosts Jeff Goodman, Tyler Hansbrough, John Fanta and Matt McCall talked about the upcoming ACC matchup. The former NPOY Hansbrough talked about the changes that the Tar Heels have gone through. He addressed the prior loss against Scheyer’s team, calling his former squad “a different team that Duke saw in Cameron.”
Since then, Davis has been through the wringer. He had his lows, and now he’s having his highs! The Tar Heels have been impenetrable for the last six games, bringing a lot of momentum into this high-stakes matchup for them. To North Carolina’s credit, however, they’ve truly found what works for them. Drake Powell is back at the three and veterans like Jae’Lyn Withers have been stepping up recently.
Not only that, Hansbrough brought up how hard the team has been hustling for boards. “If you look at our rebounding margins within this six game winning streak that we’re on right now?” He said. Even with a guard heavy lineup, the UNC Tar Heels are averaging over 36 rebounds per game. So Hansbrough was completely right in complementing their energy around the boards. “We’ve dominated the glass.”
The game between the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils looks to be an exciting one. UNC has a lot to prove, and they have a lot of momentum behind the squad. On the other hand, Duke has been dominating since the very beginning of the season. It will be interesting to see how the game pans out. What’s more interesting, however, is the topic of Cooper Flagg coming back to Cameron stadium next year.
Is Cooper Flagg planning on running it back with Duke?
“Sh-t, I wanna come back next year.” Ever since Cooper Flagg said this in an interview with The Athletic, Duke fans have been overjoyed. The Maine Event has been balling out as a Blue Devil this year, leading his team in nearly every major statistical category. On top of that, he’s a front-runner for NPOY honors alongside Auburn’s Broome.
But will Flagg come back? There has been an increasing amount of speculation over this topic, and Flagg’s family hasn’t made it any easier for the fans. During the Wake Forest game, the crowd was chanting “one more year!” to Flagg as he was moving towards the bench.
Nov 22, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) celebrates a three pointer made during the second half against the Arizona Wildcat at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images
Ralph was pictured making a ‘run it back’ gesture, and so was Cooper Flagg. They are quite obviously teasing the fans, and for good reason. For a prospect of Flagg’s caliber to consider a second year in college is practically unheard of. The decision used to be a no-brainer before NIL, but the Duke star would probably make more money staying in college than he would in his first NBA season.
Still, it’s unlikely that Cooper Flagg will choose to stay. He is virtually guaranteed to be the first overall pick and has been NBA-ready for years. If nothing else, Flagg may opt to go pro for the opportunity to compete at a higher level. As long as the star forward stays healthy, the sky’s the limit for him at any level he decides to play at.
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