Cooper Flagg becomes just the fourth freshman to win men’s basketball Player of the Year

Projected No. 1 pick at the 2025 NBA Draft Cooper Flagg has been crowned AP men’s basketball Player of the Year. The 18-year-old has led the Duke Blue Devils into the Final Four of the NCAA tournament during his first season in the college game.

Flagg becomes only the fourth freshman to win the award in its 64-year history. The other three first-year winners are Zion Williamson (Duke, 2019), Anthony Davis (Kentucky, 2012) and Kevin Durant (Texas, 2007).

This year Flagg has led Duke in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (7.5), assists (4.2) and steals (1.4) heading into Saturday’s national semi-final against Houston. Flagg’s biggest challenger for the AP award was Auburn star Johni Broome, who received 20 votes to Flagg’s 41.

What is Cooper Flagg’s NIL?

The introduction of Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) deals has allowed the most successful college athletes to make money out of their performances. In the world of men’s college basketball, Flagg’s earnings are far ahead of the rest.

On3 lists Cooper Flagg’s NIL value as $4.8 million per year, with close to a million followers on Instagram. In second place is Yaxel Lendeborg of the UAB Blazers with a NIL figure of $2.3 million.

Having already declared for the 2025 NBA Draft it looks like this will be Flagg’s sole season in college basketball. Wherever he ends up in the NBA he’ll be expected to become the talisman almost immediately and recreate his incredible high school and college performances.

“I hold myself to a high standard, high expectations,” Flagg told the AP after winning the Player of the Year award. “Just because I know how much work I’ve put in and how many hours I’ve spent grinding and putting that work in... It’s those expectations of just trusting what you do and just doing it to the highest level.”

“As far as outside expectations, I couldn’t really care less,” he continued. “For me, it’s more about following the expectations of my teammates, my coaches, my family. Everybody’s human so I’m going to make mistakes. I’m not going to be at my best all the time.

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