All Eyes on Cooper Flagg As College Basketball Tips Off

NCAA basketball returns Monday, highlighted by the debut of one of the most anticipated recruits in recent memory: Duke’s Cooper Flagg.

Flagg, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft, is the best college prospect since Zion Williamson, who played for the Blue Devils in the 2018–2019 season, or Anthony Davis, the National Player of the Year in 2012. Over the summer, Flagg was the only amateur player invited to Team USA’s training camp for the Paris Olympics, and he was reportedly one of the stars of the select team that scrimmaged against the gold medal roster despite being the lone teenager.

The Maine native is already a trailblazer in the NIL (name, image, and likeness) space. Flagg’s $2.6 million NIL valuation leads all NCAA basketball players and is $500,000 more than the second-ranked player, according to On3. He secured a shoe deal with New Balance in August—despite Duke being a Nike school. The length of the deal is unclear, but it’s unlikely it would be just a one-year contract, meaning it will stretch into his NBA career.

Last week, Gatorade announced a partnership with Flagg making him the brand’s first men’s college basketball endorser. 

Bringing the Hype Back

The buzz surrounding men’s basketball dipped a bit over the last few years. Viewership for the men’s national championship game hit all-time lows for two years in a row, while the women’s title game smashed viewership records in back-to-back years, driven by the star power of Caitlin Clark. The former Iowa standout finished her NCAA career as the all-time scoring leader in Division I (across men’s and women’s basketball).

Several top U.S. prospects—like LaMelo Ball, Jalen Green, and Amen and Ausar Thompson—took alternative routes to the NBA to secure a salary before hitting the pro level. But the opportunities afforded by the NIL era have allowed prospects to take the college route and still earn six or even seven-digit paydays.

With Flagg and other projected top picks in the 2025 NBA draft like Rutgers duo Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey in the fold, expect more eyeballs and social media fodder around the NCAA men’s basketball division.

NCAA women’s basketball is looking to build on the momentum left behind by Clark and Angel Reese, with the projected 2025 WNBA draft class headlined by stars like UConn’s Paige Bueckers and USC’s JuJu Watkins. Read more about the beginning of the NCAA women’s college basketball season from Front Office Sports reporter Margaret Fleming.