NCAA analysts discuss their pick between Cooper Flagg’s Duke and Johni Broome’s Auburn: “They’re never flustered, they play to their standard”

Coming into the conference tournaments, the Duke Blue Devils and Auburn Tigers look like the top two teams in college basketball. For college basketball insider Mike LaTulip, the Blue Devils have overtaken Bruce Pearl’s team for the top spot.

On Saturday’s “The Field of 68: After Dark”, LaTulip shared his thoughts on why the Blue Devils are the top team in the nation.

“We can talk about the positional size, and the shooting, and how potent they are offensively, how potent they are defensively, but they’re never flustered. They play to their standard. I don’t ever see dudes with bad body language,” Mike LaTulip said.

Led by Cooper Flagg, Duke holds a 28-3 record, with only one conference loss. They’ve won 24 of their last 25 games, including eight straight to close out the season.

Flagg is averaging 19.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.2 assists and is in a close race with Auburn forward Johni Broome for the Naismith College Player of the Year Award.

While the Blue Devils have benefitted from playing in a weak ACC, they have been impressive with their last 10 victories coming by double digits.

Auburn, on the other hand, is coming off back-to-back losses to Texas A&M and Alabama and have a 27-4 record, but their schedule has been much tougher than Duke’s. Broome averages 18.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.

Insider compares Duke’s Cooper Flagg to some historic players

When a player is compared to Jayson Tatum, Grant Hill, or Scottie Pippen, he figures to be a special player. When he’s compared to all three, expectations go through the roof. ESPN basketball insider Seth Greenberg believes Cooper Flagg has that kind of potential.

On Friday’s edition of “Get Up,” the analyst shared his thoughts on the Duke star forward, who is expected to be selected first overall in this year’s NBA Draft.

"He's got a little Jayson Tatum in his game, he's got a little Grant Hill in his game, he's got a little Scottie Pippen in his game. You're talking about a 6'9" guy that you can run your offense through,” Seth Greenberg said.

While this is a bold comparison, the freshman has proven to be nearly unstoppable when he’s on. Despite his inexperience, Cooper Flagg put the team on his shoulders several times this season and is one of the main reasons for the Blue Devils’ success this season.

Flagg is considered a generational talent and is expected to leave Duke after the season. Right now his focus is on taking the Blue Devils to their first national championship in a decade and first in the Jon Scheyer era.