Duke's Cooper Flagg Wins Julius Erving Award as Top SF in Men's College Basketball

Superstar Duke freshman Cooper Flagg was named the winner of the 2024-25 Julius Erving Award on Saturday.

Since 2015, the Julius Erving Award has been given annually to the top small forward in men's college basketball.

Flagg secured the honor just hours before his Blue Devils face the Houston Cougars in the Final Four of the NCAA tournament on Saturday night.

The 18-year-old Flagg is also a finalist for the Naismith Men's College Player of the Year Award along with Auburn's Johni Broome, Florida's Walter Clayton Jr. and Purdue's Braden Smith.

Flagg arrived on the scene as the No. 1-rated recruit in college basketball this season, and he has not disappointed.

In 36 games, Flagg is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 three-pointers made, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per contest, while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Remarkably, Flagg leads all Duke players in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals, and he is second only to Khaman Maluach in blocks.

Behind the play of Flagg, Duke is 35-3 on the season, and it is now just two wins away from its first national championship since 2015.

Flagg joins Wendell Moore Jr. as only the second Duke player to win the Julius Erving Award since its inception. He is the second freshman to win it along with Arizona's Stanley Johnson.

He has also already been named ACC Freshman of the Year and ACC Player of the Year, plus he won the Lute Olson Award as the most outstanding college basketball player and the Wayman Tisdale Award as the most outstanding freshman player in college basketball.

While Flagg is primarily focused on ending his college basketball season on a high note with a national title, he likely has a huge summer ahead of him as well.

If Flagg enters the 2025 NBA draft as expected, he will almost certainly be the No. 1 overall pick and the favorite to win the 2025-26 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.