Duke's Cooper Flagg: 'I Want to Come Back Next Year' Amid 2025 NBA Draft Hype

Even though Cooper Flagg is universally regarded as the No. 1 prospect in the 2025 NBA draft, he isn't totally closing the door on returning to Duke for another year.

Speaking to The Athletic's Brendan Quinn and Brendan Marks, Flagg said "I want to come back next year."

There are plenty of reasons to believe that Flagg is enjoying his time in college. He's the best player on a Blue Devils team that is currently ranked No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and has a great opportunity to win a national title this season.

Flagg was just recently named to the 2025 Naismith Player of the Year midseason watchlist. He's the biggest star on arguably the biggest college basketball team in the country and has a $4.8 million NIL valuation, per On3.com.

When you put all of that together, it's not hard to see why Flagg would at least be open to running things back for another season.

The part that strains credulity is how much more money Flagg would make by going to the NBA and being the presumptive No. 1 pick. The estimated rookie-scale salary for the top pick in 2025 is $11.5 million.

This doesn't even include the increases in endorsement money and opportunities Flagg will get for being an NBA player compared to a college star. There's also the concern about what would happen if he suffers a major injury by playing another season in college.

No one seems to have any doubt about Flagg's ability to translate to the NBA. He was wowing some of the league's biggest stars and coaches last summer with his play on the USA select team against the U.S. Olympic squad in a scrimmage.

It's best for Duke fans to just enjoy Flagg while he's there, then wait for whatever's going to happen next to happen.