Duke star Cooper Flagg accomplishes rare feat not seen since 1994
03/30/2025 12:03 AM
The growing legend of Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg will stretch to the Final Four. The freshman sensation guided the Blue Devils to the 85-65 romp of Alabama Saturday to officially punch their ticket to San Antonio. But Flagg accomplished a rare March Madness mark that’s more than three decades old.
Flagg now joins a past Durham legend in hitting this feat: He joins Grant Hill as the only Duke talents to average 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists in every NCAA Tournament game, according to CBS Sports.
Hill tasted national championship euphoria right away. He won the title in his first season of playing collegiately. Hill is best known for guiding back-to-back national titles in 1990-1991 and 1991-1992 — helping launch Duke’s dynasty under Mike Krzyzewski.
The star freshman now gets his chance one week from now. Flagg even earned a “most complete” Duke player label from school legend Jay Williams. But Flagg is likely aware that Duke stars are judged by national titles across the CBB landscape.
Duke and Cooper Flagg bottled Alabama
Flagg and Duke still needed to scale a fierce foe in Newark, New Jersey. They faced an Alabama team envisioning a second straight Final Four bid — and toppling the top-seeded Blue Devils. Alabama entered the Elite Eight with a red-hot shooting touch — knocking down 25 three-pointers to rout BYU.
Duke, however, caged the Crimson Tide from behind the arc. Alabama shot just 25% from the three-point line and beyond. Labaron Philon settled for being the only Tide player to hit a trio of threes. Even sharpshooters Mark Sears and Chris Youngblood settled for only one made three — all after lighting up the Cougars.
Duke and Flagg didn’t allow any Tide player to finish with 17 points. Philon led ‘Bama with 16 points. Youngblood and Grant Nelson chipped in 10 points apiece. No other Tide shooter hit double figures.
Flagg wasn’t the leading scorer of the night. He settled for 16 points on the evening. Kon Knueppel led all scorers by dropping 21. Tyrese Proctor delivered 17 points for Duke. Khaman Maluach emerged as the fourth in double figures with 14.
Duke is now off to its 18th ever Final Four. The Blue Devils will await the Tennessee-Houston winner Sunday.
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