Jayson Tatum Recalls 1st Impression of Duke's Cooper Flagg: 'Plays the Right Way'

Duke superstar Cooper Flagg made a strong impression on Jayson Tatum the first time he got to see him play in person.

Appearing on the New Heights podcast (starts at 37:42 mark), Tatum said his first impression of Flagg was that he "plays the right way" by competing hard and wanting to take on the toughest defensive assignments.

Tatum, who played at Duke in 2016-17 before going to the NBA, said the first time he watched Flagg in person was two years ago at the JT Elite Camp hosted by the Boston Celtics superstar.

Of course, Flagg got the opportunity to share the court against Tatum last summer when Team USA held scrimmages with the USA Select Team.

Playing against a U.S. roster that had Tatum, Stephen Curry and LeBron James, Flagg stole the show with at least one active NBA head coach saying he was the best player on the floor.

The hype for Flagg, who was already ranked as the No. 1 college recruit in the country at that point, reached new levels after that. He has more than lived up to it with the Blue Devils thus far.

A finalist for the Naismith College Player of the Year award, Flagg is averaging 18.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game in 34 starts. He can add to his already-impressive resume when the NCAA tournament resumes on Thursday with Duke taking on Arizona in the Sweet 16.