Probable No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg says he wants ‘to come back next year’ for Duke, but he can’t be serious

Duke star Cooper Flagg is on track to become the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft this summer and has his team firmly in the national championship picture heading into the home stretch. The 18-year-old superstar is having one of the best seasons by a freshman in recent memory and is currently the betting favorite to win National Player of the Year.

Despite all of this, Flagg didn’t rule out what would be an unprecedented return for his sophomore season. In an interview with the Athletic earlier this week, Flagg said he would, “want to come back next year.”

“I still feel like a kid,” Flagg said in the interview. “This is the only way I’ve ever known college. That’s how I see it. I really wouldn’t know how kids felt before, and if this feels different, if this feels more like being a professional. I mean, it’s the same thing for kids in high school, too, getting paid a lot of money. I don’t know. I feel pretty normal.”

If Flagg were to bypass the NBA Draft and return to school, it would go down as the biggest shocker in the one-and-done era. Flagg entered the season as the projected No. 1 pick and has firmly held his ground at the top spot.

Flagg leads Duke in every statical category heading into the weekend. The freshman phenom is averaging 19.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks for the No. 3 ranked team in the country.

Why this has zero chance of happening

Again, Flagg returning to school would be biggest shocker in college basketball/NBA Draft history, even in the NIL era in which Flagg is pulling in over seven figures this season playing college basketball. It would be unprecedented for a slam-dunk projected No. 1 overall pick to bypass the draft to return to school for his sophomore season. Rutgers star Dylan Harper is projected to be the No. 2 overall pick in the draft behind Flagg this summer.

Moreover, Duke post-Flagg will be just fine. Five-star forward Cameron Boozer, the No. 3 overall player in the 2025 recruiting cycle by 247Sports, will join the program for the 2025-26 season. The Blue Devils also have three more top-25 players signed in the 2025 recruiting class in five-star forward Shelton Henderson, four-star forward Nikolas Khamenia and four-star guard Cayden Boozer.

Last year, there was some buzz that Kentucky star Reed Sheppard could bypass the 2024 NBA Draft and return to school for his sophomore season after the program hired Mark Pope as its next coach. The hype was short-lived, as Sheppard declared for the draft shortly after Pope was hired and went to be selected No. 3 by the Houston Rockets.

The bottom line: It would be an absolute stunner if Flagg didn’t declare for the draft. For the fans of tanking NBA fans hoping to have Flagg on their roster next season, you can exhale.