Earlier this Summer, the USA men’s Olympic basketball team gathered in Las Vegas for training camp. LeBron James. Stephen Curry. Anthony Davis. Kevin Durant. Joel Embiid. Anthony Edwards. A collection of the world’s best players were all in town, and head coach Steve Kerr had just four days to prepare them for the team’s first game.

The first scrimmage didn’t go as planned, though. A corner three-pointer over Anthony Davis. A baseline fadeaway above the outstretched arms of Jrue Holiday. An acrobatic putback (and foul) over first-team all-defensive player Bam Adebayo. Team USA was going to be fine, but the star of the show was 17-year-old Cooper Flagg.

“He wants it,” NBA all-star Devin Booker said at the time. “I know this experience he’s going to take with him and move forward.”

Cooper Flagg was the only teenager and lone collegiate player among the 15 athletes selected to train against the USA men’s basketball team as they prepared for the Paris Olympic Games, but he certainly didn’t look out of place. Flagg reminded everyone why he’s projected to be the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft, and NIL rules will allow the 17-year-old to make millions at Duke before even entering the NBA.

Growing up in Maine, Cooper Flagg stood out from a young age. He played several age groups up in his recreational league, and his parents drove two hours (from Northern Maine to Southern Maine) just so Flagg could play on a better AAU team.

Flagg and his twin brother, Ace, passed the time by watching the 1986 Boston Celtics on a portable DVD player. They used the tape to study film on the team and learn the game, but Larry Bird became Flagg’s favorite player, along with current Celtics great Jayson Tatum.

Flagg then transferred to Montverde Academy in Florida before his sophomore year. Montverde was 1,500 miles away from home, but Flagg’s twin brother and parents came with him because the prep basketball powerhouse has an NBA alumni list that includes guys like Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, D’Angelo Russell, and R.J. Barrett.

Flagg became an All-American and one of the top-ranked players in the 2025 recruiting class. But then Flagg shocked everyone, choosing to reclassify to become part of the 2024 recruiting class. This meant Flagg would start college a year early (at 17 years old), and if he chose to leave after one year, he could be drafted at 18 years old.

For context, while many people frequently say that NBA rules prohibit players under 19 years old from being drafted, the actual rule states that 18-year-old players can get drafted as long as they turn 19 years old during the calendar year of the draft. So, with Cooper Flagg turning 19 on December 21, 2025, he will be draft-eligible next year.

Flagg has since committed to Duke University as the top-rated player in the class. He put up an impressive stat line of 18 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals in his first college game, and he has earned praise from some of his all-time favorite players.

“He’s a hell of a player,” says former Duke player and current Boston Celtic Jayson Tatum. “It’s clear as day; we’re going to be playing against him in a few years.”

But everyone knows Cooper Flagg is an excellent player that every NBA team would love to draft. Instead, I’m more interested in Flagg’s potential Zion Williamson-esque impact at Duke, including how he’ll be the first college basketball star in the NIL era.

It wasn’t long ago that Zion Williamson was the hottest ticket in town. Duke added more Instagram followers (358,000) during his time at the school than all other college basketball programs combined. Celebrities like Jay-Z and LeBron James showed up to watch him play in person. Home team ticket prices jumped an average of +178% when Zion Williamson and Duke came to town, and Duke home game attendees traveled an average of 469 miles (!!) to watch Zion play, according to a study by VividSeats.

Zion Williamson was sort of a unicorn because of his viral dunks and overall athleticism, and he hasn’t necessarily had the same impact in the NBA. However, the main difference between someone like Zion Williamson and Cooper Flagg is that the NCAA has changed its rules, and Flagg can now make millions while still in school.

In fact, we are already seeing this play out. Flagg signed a shoe deal with New Balance before he even stepped on Duke’s campus, despite Duke being a Nike school and Flagg’s scholarship requiring him to wear Nike shoes during practice and games.

Flagg didn’t stop there, either. The 17-year-old recently became the first men’s college basketball player to sign a deal with Gatorade, joining UConn’s Paige Bueckers and USC’s Juju Watkins on Gatorade’s college basketball NIL roster. Flagg also did a social media deal with CORT Furniture to highlight his move to North Carolina, and On3 has Flagg’s NIL valuation listed at $2.6 million in potential earnings this year.

That makes Cooper Flagg the country’s 5th most valuable college athlete, behind guys like Sheudeur Sanders and Arch Manning, but ahead of Jalen Milroe and Cam Ward.

We’ll see how this plays out over the next few months, but I think Cooper Flagg is uniquely positioned to be the face of NIL this year. Duke is a blue-blood program, and Flagg’s highlights will receive millions of views on social media after every game.

His $2.6 million in potential earnings might not seem like a lot compared to the nearly $60 million contract the first overall NBA draft pick will sign. But this amount of money is a drastic change from what we saw in college basketball just a few years ago, and Flagg will enter the NBA with a fully-vetted business team around him.

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