When it comes to the future NCAA Basketball recruiting classes, all eyes have recently been on the 2025 class, which features several future stars. That includes both the Boozer brothers (Cameron and Cayden), as well as previously, Cooper Flagg. He’s a 6’9 power forward out of Maine, who has been viewed by some as a generational prospect, thanks to his two-way game.
This Summer during the Nike EYBL Peach Jam, Flagg was sensational. He averaged an incredible 25.4 ppg, 13.0 rpg, 5.7 apg, as well as nearly seven blocked shots a game. The forward can shoot the ball at a high level, facilitate the offense and impact the game with his interior defense.
Flagg was already viewed as the top prospect in the 2025 recruiting class and had around a dozen offers. However, due to his age, he was also eligible for the 2025 NBA Draft if he decided to reclass and move up a year. And that’s what he made official on Friday.
Breaking: Cooper Flagg, the No. 2 prospect in ESPN's class of 2025, announced he is reclassifying into the 2024 class. pic.twitter.com/miPfAI7pRs
— ESPN (@espn) August 11, 2023
With the news that Flagg is set to play in NCAA Basketball a year from now, expect his recruitment to jump. He recently took an unofficial visit to Duke, who offered Flagg a few months ago. And there are other programs reportedly in the mix to land him as well.
While there’s no official list, I took a look at the viable programs that have recruited Flagg so far (sorry Maine) and made a top-5 group that could realistically land him. Here are my own power rankings for the new No. 1 overall prospect.
No. 5 Best Cooper Flagg option – UCLA Bruins
Coach Mick Cronin has had limited success with five-star transfers once they arrive in LA. Peyton Watson and Amari Bailey ended up drafted in the second round, though both could’ve returned for possible breakout years with larger roles. And Adem Bona, the only starter coming back, isn’t a real pro prospect at the moment.
Still, Coach Cronin is one of the best developers in NCAA Basketball for those that do stick around. No one thought that Jaime Jaquez would end up drafted in the first round but the former Pac-12 Player of the Year looks ready to contribute for the Miami Heat early on.
There’s not much development that Flagg needs to do but playing with a defensive-minded coach would do well for him. Plus, he can step in and easily be the focal point of the offense. And from a marketing standpoint, playing in Los Angeles for one of the most storied athletic programs for a year will only make Flagg an even bigger name.
The one main concern is how UCLA will do entering the Big Ten, as there are going to be a lot of adjustments made. If you’re Flagg, you wouldn’t want to deal with too many unknowns in your lone NCAA Basketball season. That’s just one negative but something other teams can negatively recruit against.
No. 4 Best Cooper Flagg option – Texas Longhorns
Another program part of the realignment circus, Texas is set to move to the SEC for the 2024-25 campaign. The big difference between this and what UCLA will be going through is travel since the Longhorns are already fairly close with all of the programs in the SEC, including Texas A&M.
Texas is one of the biggest brands both in NCAA Basketball and Football. As someone who hails from the Northeast in Maine, this would be a situation where Flagg becomes more well-known in the Southeastern part of the United States before he goes pro. And from a roster standpoint, they could use him too.
Star transfer guard Max Abmas will be leaving after next season. So will Dylan Disu, the projected starting power forward on the roster. And since center Kadin Shedrick is also leaving, Flagg will not only be needed to come in and provide interior defense but could also play both frontcourt positions to showcase his versatility to get ready for the next level.
The one obvious issue is the new head coach. Rodney Terry got the full-time job after he replaced former HC Chris Beard when he was fired during the season. He handled this past season well but his overall resume to this point isn’t great, especially compared to the other options Flagg has. Yet a case can be made that he’s so good that it won’t matter who the head coach is.
No. 3 Best option for Cooper Flagg – Kansas Jayhawks
It’s hard to envision an NCAA Basketball that had a better offseason than Kansas. They landed several top transfers from the portal, including Michigan center and All-American, Hunter Dickinson. After a good showing in the Bahamas in the team’s foreign tour, look for them to be at worst, a preseason top-3 team for next year.
The Jayhawks have everything Flagg would want. They’re arguably the most successful NCAA Basketball program of the past 20 years, including winning a national title in 2022. Coach Bill Self is truly one of the best and assuming that his health holds up, will be around for when Flagg arrives now that he reclassified.
Playing in the Big 12, starring in the Midwest, and playing on a team that’ll definitely contend for a national title are plenty of big selling points for Flagg. The only question is how the roster would look surrounding him. In a way, having Dickinson around could hurt Flagg because he wouldn’t be the focal point of the frontcourt. And that doesn’t even include the guards that’ll be highly touted on the roster as well.
Still, it’s hard to pass up playing for Coach Self and if they knew for certain that Dickinson is a “one and done” player before going pro, look for the Jayhawks to aggressively target Flagg.
No. 2 Best option for Cooper Flagg – UConn Huskies
The past two NCAA Basketball champions are after Flagg, including the 2023 title winner, UConn. They had one of the most dominant 6-game runs in the NCAA Tournament this past season, led by star center, Adama Sanogo. He’s gone but his backup, Donovan Clingan, is viewed as a consensus national breakout star and very well could be gone after next year as well.
As expected, the national title has allowed the Huskies to become lethal on the recruiting trail. Coach Dan Hurley has landed a couple of top-100 prospects this Summer in Ahmad Nowell and Isaiah Abraham and is in the mix with several others that announced respective lists.
But none of them would compare with Flagg, who’d be the best commit in program history. They’re the top program in the Northeast Region where he’s from and if he wanted to stay relatively close to home, UConn would make perfect sense.
The idea that forward Alex Karaban might have to come off the bench (or have Flagg play some 5) is a small sticking point but there’s no way that’d stop the Huskies from making the big push. Can they use that timely national title to their advantage and land him?
No. 1 Best Option for Cooper Flagg – Duke Blue Devils
Before the big announcement that Flagg was moving up a class, the attention was on how would Duke handle the class of 2025 top prospects. I mentioned before that the Boozer brothers were in the group, the sons of former Blue Devil star, Carlos Boozer. And Cameron has a case to make that he’s almost as good as Flagg, ranked as the No. 2 (will be No. 1 now) player in that class.
It’s not necessarily that Duke wouldn’t have taken Flagg over the Boozers but since they play the same power forward position, they all likely wouldn’t have wanted to play together and the politics of the brothers and Carlos Boozer could have made it an awkward situation for Coach Jon Scheyer to deal with.
But now, Duke could realistically land all three players without issue. Flagg would be the obvious replacement for star big man Kyle Filipowski, as both he and Mark Mitchell are likely going pro after surprisingly coming back for their sophomore years. I’ve been talking about national brands and profiles and there’s no bigger one in NCAA Basketball than the Blue Devils.
Flagg has talked before about Duke being the dream destination and considering that he just visited them, it’s hard to see how they aren’t the favorite to land him. But just like with the five-star center Flory Bidunga’s recruitment, surprises can come with these high-profile battles. Don’t think the other schools will just like the Blue Devils run away with this one.