College Basketball Fans Have A Year To Prepare For The Hatred They're Going To Have Toward Duke's Latest Star Cooper Flagg

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Cooper Flagg is one of the most-hyped college basketball prospects of the last decade. The 6-foot-8 forward is the consensus No. 1 prospect in the class of 2024 and is an absolute assassin on the hardwood. If all goes as planned, he'll be the first-overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft after one season in college.

As for that one season in college, he'll undoubtedly be the most-hated player in the country after officially committing to Duke on Monday.

Flagg looks like a guy JJ Redick, Grayson Allen, and Christian Laettner built in a lab and labeled him 'the most stereotypical Duke player imaginable.'

Just look at the smugness on this kid's face.

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Cooper Flagg is headed to Duke. (Photo by John Jones/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Flagg will be beloved in Durham yet hated in all four corners of the country before ever even dribbling a ball for the Blue Devils, but that's exactly why he'll likely have an incredibly successful year with Duke.

Besides the fact that Redick, Allen, and Lettner were three smug white dudes who looked like they were born rounding third base, all three of them were elite players during their time at Duke. People don't hate on players who don't make an impact, so if Flagg joins the ranks of the most-hated Duke players ever that means he's among the best players in college basketball and the Blue Devils had a stellar season during his time on campus.

Flagg announced back in August that he was reclassifying from the 2025 class to 2024 and planned to enter the college ranks next fall. He will turn 18 in December of his freshman year, making him eligible for the 2025 NBA Draft. He picked Duke over the likes of Kansas and UConn.

If you want to get familiar with Flagg's game, check out his mixtape. The kid looks like he could be a walking double-double on Duke's team tomorrow.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.