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Cooper Flagg still has his work cut out for him if he is going to be the No. 1 overall pick of the 2025 NBA draft.
Adam Zagoria of NJ.com reported Friday that Rutgers’ Ace Bailey has also caught the attention of those at the next level.
“He’s [among the] top-3 youth players in the world,” an NBA scout told Zagoria. “Everyone has Cooper Fever, [but] he will challenge Cooper for No. 1.
The incredible thing is Bailey may not even be the best NBA prospect on his own team, as ESPN’s Jonathan Givony reported earlier this month that “more than one NBA scout” has Rutgers guard Dylan Harper as the No. 1 player on their big board.
Harper is the son of former NBA player Ron Harper and gives the Scarlet Knights quite the one-two punch as they look to challenge in the Big Ten this season.
As for Flagg, he will be at Duke this season and has the chance to live up to the hype surrounding him as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.
Flagg already tested his game against some of the best, as he was chosen to be part of the USA Basketball’s Select Team that helped the Olympic team prepare for the 2024 Games.
“He looked like a hell of a player,” Kevin Durant told reporters in July when discussing Flagg. “He’s somebody that’s only going to get better with more experience. He’s 17 years old coming in here playing like he’s a vet almost. No emotion.”
Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman projected Flagg as the No. 1 pick, Harper as the No. 2 pick and Bailey as the No. 3 pick in his latest mock draft in August.
But the two Rutgers playmakers have time to make up some ground with the college basketball season about to start.
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