Cooper Flagg plays like Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Derrick Rose says Wake Forest HC as he predicts a long NBA career for Duke star

Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes compared Duke freshman Cooper Flagg to NBA superstars Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Derrick Rose and predicted that he'll have a long career in the pro ranks.

Forbes made the statement during a postgame press conference following the Demon Deacons' (15-5, 7-2 in ACC) 63-56 loss to the Blue Devils (17-2, 9-0) on Saturday night. Forbes, who is in his fifth season with Wake Forest, was asked about his thoughts on the 6-foot-9 Flagg and he described him as a generational talent.

Stressing his point further, Forbes recalled Duke's top scorer in the 2023-24 season, Kyle Filipowski, was the second pick in the second round of the NBA draft while Flagg, the team's leading scorer at 19.2 points per game, is expected to be the first pick in the first round of this year's draft.

Forbes was in awe of Flagg's talents, describing him as an intelligent player who is unselfish and hard to guard. He believes the Blue Devils guard will have a long NBA career and compared him to Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge.

"He's going to play [for] a long time in the NBA ... I've coached against some great players in my career. He'd be one of them," the Wake Forest coach said (10:55 onwards).

"He's in a list of (former NCAA greats and NBA superstars) Kevin Durant or Derrick Rose or I couldn't pronounce his name at the time we played him. I called him 'Kawee' Leonard, didn't know his name was Kawhi. He was a freshman, had 22 rebounds (and) I was like holy s***. I don't know... (possibly) LaMarcus Aldridge," he added (11:19).

Cooper Flagg was impressive against Wake Forest, tallying 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and one block in 39 minutes. He led the Duke's attack down the stretch when they held off the Demon Deacons' late surge en route to victory.

---

Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes hailed Ty-Laur Johnson's efforts despite the loss

Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes also talked about his team and gave special mention to six-foot guard Ty-Laur Johnson, who was excellent in making the plays against Duke despite the loss.

Johnson scored eight points, five rebounds, eight assists and three steals in 37 minutes and Forbes was proud of his guard's efforts against the much superior Blue Devils' lineup.

"I thought he was fearless defensively. He made a lot of plays. He was in the right spot at a couple of times," Forbes said of Johnson (9:00). "He left out (Kon Knueppel) and late in the game, he just took the ball from Proctor. We needed it, we just didn't convert it."

Wake Forest rallied from 15 points down but fell short down the stretch to a much superior Duke squad. Up next for the Demon Deacons is a visit to Louisville on Tuesday at the KFC Yum! Center. The No. 25-ranked Cardinals (15-5, 8-1) is coming off a 98-73 win over SMU (14-5, 5-3).