“Playing golf with them has been really fun”: Freshman Cooper Flagg talks about bonding with new Duke teammates

Cooper Flagg immediately burst into the spotlight after arriving at Duke University this offseason. He joined the Blue Devils as the No. 1 recruit from the 2024 class and has already been predicted to be the first pick in next year's NBA draft.

Coming into a new team, Flagg has adjusted well to a new environment both off and on the court. In his recent media interview, the Newport, Maine, native discussed how he has been bonding with his new teammates at Duke.

"It's been great to just view my teammates going through this part of my life," Cooper said. "It's something you only get to go through once being a freshman in college, so, I mean, I've had a really good time with it."

Flagg also mentioned that besides basketball, he enjoyed playing golf with his teammates.

"My teammates like the golf. We go hit the range, something that I love to do," he said. "So kind of bringing them along and playing some golf with them has been really fun, and then just really just hanging out and bonding with them, just getting closer."

Duke coach Jon Scheyer invested heavily in bringing top talents to Duke for the upcoming season. Along with Cooper Flagg, three other five-star recruits have joined the Blue Devils, including Kon Knueppel, Khaman Maluach and Isaiah Evans.

Similarly, four players arrived in Durham from the transfer portal: Sion James, Mason Gillis, Cameron Sheffield and Maliq Brown.

Cooper Flagg praises teammate Khaman Maluach's shot-blocking prowess

After 10 players from the previous season left the program, Jon Scheyer had to rebuild the squad from scratch. It is a completely new roster stacked with young players.

Among them, Khaman Maluach, a 7-foot-2 big man from South Sudan, has stood out with his defensive excellence. After Duke's exhibition game against Arizona State this Sunday, Cooper Flagg commended Maluach's impact on the defensive end.

"I think especially Khaman's presence in the paint is huge," Flagg said postgame. "It would be kind of stupid of anybody to not think twice before trying to drive one-on-one to anybody with him in the paint.

"So, I think his presence is something that every team will have to feel, and he'll just bring that shot-blocking presence all throughout the year."

In a 103-47 win over ASU, Maluach grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds, including nine defensive rebounds, and made two blocks and one steal. Cooper Flagg scored nine points, dished out three assists and grabbed four rebounds.