Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer is preparing to greet his second Mr. Basketball USA honoree, and the school’s fourth overall.
Wilt Chamberlain was named the first Mr. Basketball USA in 1955. He and all but two previous winners of the prep prize have gone on to play in the NBA, with the exception of 2025 Duke basketball recruitment target Cameron Boozer, a five-star forward who is still a junior in high school but received the honor as a sophomore the previous year.
Cooper Flagg, an incoming five-star Blue Devil forward, will be crowned Mr. Basketball USA this year, as announced by Ballislife.com on Friday. He is only the fourth Duke player to wear that tag; however, he is the third to do so since 2018 and the second in the Jon Scheyer era in Durham.
Of course, Duke’s total could rise to five if Boozer, the son of 2001 Blue Devil national champion Carlos Boozer, finally joins Scheyer and his team.
For the time being, Flagg is the Blue Devils’ all-time Mr. Basketball USA recipient, alongside fellow Montverde Academy (Fla.) products Dariq Whitehead (2022) and RJ Barrett (2018), as well as DeMatha Catholic (Md.) star Danny Ferry (1985).
No. 1 player in the country Cooper Flagg at The Jordan Brand Classic:
◾️ 19 PTS
◾️ 10 REB pic.twitter.com/U4R2PyRgr5— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) April 22, 2024
Eight of the ten panelists chose Cooper Flagg, a 6-foot-9, 200-pound superstar who ranks first overall on the 247Sports 2024 Composite and is expected to be the centerpiece of the 2024-25 Blue Devils. Dylan Harper, a five-star guard from Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, received the other first-place vote as a 2024 Rutgers signee and previous long-time Duke basketball target.
JUST OUT: @Cooper_Flagg of @MVABasketball (FL) named Mr. Basketball USA🔥
Coach & experts speak on production-based POY honor + final POY Tracker voting results (3⃣1⃣ candidates earn some POY recognition).
Full release/Voting 👉 https://t.co/TuCsaWDoDg pic.twitter.com/WpNKapvE30
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) May 3, 2024
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