The Cooper Flagg hype has reached a fever pitch.
And it’s been completely warranted.
The 18-year-old Duke Blue Devil has exceeded every expectation that was placed on him when he arrived in Durham, North Carolina.
Flagg has helped lead the second-ranked Blue Devils to a 24-3 record and has them rounding into form as the tournament draws near.
Once the season is over, if and when he declares for the NBA draft, Flagg is projected to be the first name called.
He has been for some time now.
One Hall of Fame coach even compared the young star to one of the game’s greatest players.
The legendary Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim appeared on Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich, and had high praise for the Duke freshman.
“I think he’s almost — to me he’s Bird-like a little bit,” Boeheim said.
Larry Bird, the man with three NBA championships, two Finals MVPs, three regular season MVPs, 12 All-Star selections, 10 All-NBA teams and one of the greatest shooters of the basketball that the game has ever seen.
That’s who Boeheim compared Flagg to.
And he didn’t stop there.
“Except, he’s quicker, faster, more athletic; he doesn’t shoot (the ball) as well, but his shot is coming,” Boeheim continued.
“His shot is there; it may not be there this year, but it’s there. He’s got a good release.
“People that say other people are better than him just don’t know anything about basketball, I mean, it’s just crazy.
“I don’t know what they’re watching, maybe they’re just trying to be contrarian or something, I don’t know, but Cooper Flagg, he’s the best all-around player — in terms of doing all the things in college basketball — that I’ve seen.”
Boeheim essentially called Flagg a better version of Bird.
He wasn’t saying that Flagg will be better than Bird, that would be ridiculously unfair, but he said the he has the tools (and then some) that remind him of his fellow Hall of Famer.
Boeheim also mentioned that it’s not just Flagg’s physical traits and skills that he has been most impressed with.
He loves the mental aspect to Flagg’s game as well.
“The thing that he has — and I’ve talked to Coach K (former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski) about this — he has an edge to him,” Boeheim said.
“He’s not backing down from nobody.”
Sounds a lot like the guy who wore #33 in Boston.