When you walk through the hallways of Madison Square Garden, there are pictures of Muhammad Ali, Patrick Ewing, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen and countless other icons in sports and entertainment.
On Saturday night, Cooper Flagg will step into the aura of MSG and get the opportunity to make his mark. The future first overall pick in this June’s NBA Draft leads his No. 3-ranked Duke Blue Devils into the SentinelOne Classic against Illinois at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
The Blue Devils, who are 23-3 on the year and have lost just once since Nov. 26, 2024, were guided by Flagg’s 17 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals earlier this week in an 80-62 win at Virginia. That’s par for the course for the 6-foot-9 Flagg, who’s now averaging 19.7 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. No freshman in college basketball history has led his team in every major statistical category and played in the NCAA Tournament. Flagg is tracking to do exactly that and could end up doing much more than just appearing on the Big Dance floor.
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