SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD COOPER FLAGG had not yet played a single game for Duke when he walked into UNLV's Mendenhall Center on the afternoon of July 8, 2024.
But he piqued the curiosity of the future Hall of Famers preparing for the trip to Paris to play for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics.
Flagg had been the most hyped and anticipated American high school prospect since LeBron James, who was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft more than three years before Flagg was born. James and the rest of Team USA were quite familiar with Flagg's name, if not yet his game.