Every year in college basketball, there is one player who stands out over the rest. In the past, it has been Buddy Hield, Josh Hart, Trae Young, Zion Williamson, Luka Garza, Oscar Tshiebwe and Zach Edey. This season, Cooper Flagg, is the best player in college basketball.

The best player doesn’t mean the same as the best NBA Draft prospect (although Williamson and Young were great prospects). It also doesn’t mean the player is just putting up stats, even if that is a part of it. For someone to be known as the best player in college basketball, they have to truly stand out above the rest and be an integral part of their team’s success.

In his last season of high school, Flagg was named the Gatorade National Player of the year. He averaged 16.1 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.6 steals per game.

Flagg was the number one overall recruit in the class of 2024, who chose to attend Duke out of Maine. While he was supposed to be in the class of 2025, Flagg reclassified to the class of 2024 to enter college early. He had offers from UConn, UCLA, Texas among others.

Duke kept some of their key players, but added some transfers and freshmen to the mix as well. Flagg was joined by other impactful freshmen in center Khaman Maluach, guard Kon Knueppel and guard Isaiah Evans. Tyrese Proctor returned to play the point guard spot and Caleb Foster has also made an impact at guard. Guard Sion James and forwards Maliq Brown and Mason Brown bring plenty of experience.

In the non-conference schedule, Duke lost two games, both to teams who were ranked highly at the time. They dropped games to Kentucky and Kansas, which were both at neutral sites. The Blue Devils also had impressive wins in the nonconference schedule, defeating Auburn, Arizona and Illinois.

While the ACC is down this season from their usual status, Duke has dominated. They won 15 of their 16 games, with their only loss being on the road to Clemson, who is also a solid team that is a no. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament. What has been impressive is not just that Duke won so many ACC games, but they were doing so easily as well. After the Clemson loss, Duke won eight straight games by double-digits, with many of them coming by over 20 points.

Flagg has put up some great numbers for Duke this season. He is leading Duke in all major statistical categories. Flagg is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per game. To go with his good traditional stats, Flagg also has a PER (Player Efficiency Rating) of 30.4, which is one of the best in the country.

He has done some other notable things this season, including registering seven double-doubles. Flagg has also shown up in big games. He had 26 points against Kentucky, 24 against Arizona, 22 against Auburn and 20 against Louisville.

This has been the stiffest competition for the best player in college basketball in all the years of this article.

Johni Broome is averaging 18.9 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game for Auburn this season. He has a case as well, but what sets Flagg above is how he impacts the game in so many ways. Not only does he lead his team in all major stats, he is a force on offense and defense. He protects the rim, but also has done tremendously defending on the perimeter, making him well-rounded.

Flagg is not only the best draft prospect in college basketball, but he is the best player. He has lifted Duke to get a no. 1 seed and has the chance to have the best freshman season since Anthony Davis led Kentucky to a national championship. While Flagg has a hurt ankle heading into the tournament, his presence can help prove that he is the best player in college basketball.

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