The No. 3 Duke Blue Devils of Durham, North Carolina, are one of the country’s hottest teams this season. They advanced to 22-3 with a strong 106-70 victory over the Stanford Cardinals on Saturday
Duke has now won 18 of its previous 19 games, and with Selection Sunday only a month away, they have maintained their status as one of the greatest teams in the country, led by true freshman Cooper Flagg.
Prior to Monday night’s game against Virginia, Flagg was awarded ACC Rookie of the Week for the third time this season, more than any other player in the conference.
Against Stanford, Flagg had 19 points, five rebounds, six assists, and two steals. Earlier this week, following a 21-point victory against California, he had 27 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗜𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞:
Cooper Flagg, @DukeMBB
https://t.co/t9mW17H0Gh pic.twitter.com/lDmd8LDej1
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) February 17, 2025
This season, Flagg leads Duke in points, rebounds, assists, and blocked shots. He averages 19.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.6 blocks a game, shooting 48.5% from the field and 37.8% from behind the three-point line.
Over his first 25 games, he has 450 points, 150 rebounds, 100 assists, 40 steals, and 25 blocks. He becomes only the third player this century to accomplish that milestone, after Dwyane Wade and Ben Simmons.
Duke Basketball confronts old Blue Devil on Virginia bench.
TJ Power, a one-year Duke basketball player, is generating season figures comparable to his brief stint with the Blue Devils.
Duke basketball (22-3, 14-1 ACC) plays its first of three straight road games against the Virginia Cavaliers (13-12, 6-8 ACC) at 8 p.m. ET Monday (ESPN). TJ Power has never sat on a bench opposite Jon Scheyer and his crew before.
Speaking of Virginia’s bench, the 6-foot-9 Power has been there since early February. Following his 2023-24 Duke rookie season, he watched his minutes steadily fall to zero after his third zero-point outing in a row — his tenth in 21 Cavalier appearances, including five early starts.
Power is averaging 1.5 points and 1.2 rebounds for Virginia in 10.4 minutes per game, shooting 20.9 percent from the field, 18.8 percent from three, and 8-for-8 from the charity line.
As a Blue Devil, the former composite five-star prep from Worcester Academy (Mass.) came off the bench in 26 games, averaging 2.1 points and 0.7 rebounds in 7.0 minutes per game while shooting 33.3 percent from the field, 35.7 percent from beyond the arc, and 6-for-7 at the free throw line.
The 2024-25 Blue Devils are 2-1 in ACC games against three of the seven transfers from Duke’s 2023-24 basketball lineup. Most recently, two games after losing on the road to Clemson and Christian Reeves, Scheyer’s team trounced Stanford and Jaylen Blakes 106-70 on Saturday.
ESPN’s newest NBA mock draft has three Duke basketball players among the top seven.
Head coach Jon Scheyer recruited four five-star players in the Class of 2024, headlined by prodigy Cooper Flagg, and the Blue Devils have started three rookies this season
Flagg, whom ESPN’s Jonathan Givony named the best player in the country on Wednesday, has scored at least 20 points in 12 of his 23 collegiate games and improved as a 3-point shooter and offensive facilitator since December 31.
Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, the other first-year starters, have showed signs of being potential superstars in their own way. Knueppel is averaging 15.2 points over his previous 12 games despite not scoring against Boston College, a scoring rate that would increase to 16.5 points without that game, while Maluach posted back-to-back double-doubles against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Miami Hurricanes last month.
Givony and Jeremy Woo produced a new NBA mock draft on Wednesday morning, and all three aforementioned freshmen were off the board by the seventh pick. See where they (and three other colleagues) ended up below.
2024-25 statistics: 19.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks, 47.9% FG, 36.4% 3PT.
Flagg, the most dynamic player in the country, distinguishes himself from other prospects regarded as generational talents by his ability to become whatever Duke need in a given game. He’s set an ACC rookie record with 42 points in a single game, taken only seven shots in a conference away game owing to increased defensive attention, and handed out four assists in the opening five minutes of a rivalry game against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
2024-25 statistics: 7.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 72.4% FG
Maluach, who is 7 feet 2 inches tall and with a wingspan of 7 feet 5, has been one of the nation’s top rim protectors since the beginning. On offense, he is effective with the ball in his hands, frequently scoring with one or two dribbles, and his lateral quickness allows him to transition out to the perimeter with ease.
2024-25 statistics: 11.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 0.7 steals, 42.1% FG, 39.6% 3PT.
Each Duke squad need an experienced starter to show up in critical occasions, and Proctor has settled into that role nicely. He nailed two huge 3-pointers in the December win against the Auburn Tigers, including one near the halfcourt line at the end of the shot clock, and he scored 16 points before halftime to keep the Blue Devils in the game against the Clemson Tigers.
2024-25 statistics: 7.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steals, 51.2% FG, 37.5% 3PT.
James, to use a cliché, is your favorite basketball player’s favorite basketball player. He’s a Swiss Army knife for head coach Jon Scheyer, as seen by his statistics. He grabbed 11 boards against Virginia Tech, eight assists against SMU, and 13 points in two straight games against NC State and the Tar Heels.
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