Duke Blue Devils star freshman Cooper Flagg made his March Madness debut on Friday, and it was a success.
After concerns about the ankle injury he suffered during the ACC Tournament, the first-year forward returned to Duke’s lineup and immediately put together an impressive performance to help the No. 1 seed Blue Devils score an easy 93-49 victory over the No. 16 seed Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
But before that game, while discussing Duke’s incredible depth and talent beyond Flagg, former NBA guard and college basketball analyst Kenny Smith casually referred to the Blue Devils star as a “possible NBA lottery pick (h/t Awful Announcing).”
That got the attention of a lot of folks on social media.
“Way to go out on a limb, there, Jet,” said a fan on X.
Another one said: “Really going out on a limb here.”
From a commenter: “He also claims water is wet.”
“Kenny Smith just admitting he doesn’t like Duke clearly,” a social media user posted.
Via a different commenter: “It’s pretty hilarious how the NBAonTNT crew says something stupid at least once a week”
“Literally nobody knows less about college than the TNT guys,” one added.
Against the Mountaineers, the 18-year-old Flagg, who is widely expected to go No. 1 overall in the 2025 NBA draft, scored 14 points with seven boards and four assists while shooting 6-for-12 from the floor in 22 minutes of action.
Duke was led by Tyrese Proctor, who dropped 19 points on the strength of six made 3-pointers while Caleb Foster came off the bench and contributed 12 points.
Up next for Flagg and the Blue Devils is a date in the second round of the Big Dance against fellow first-round survivor and No. 9 seed Baylor Bears on Sunday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina.