Dallas Mavericks select Duke’s Cooper Flagg with NBA Draft’s No. 1 overall pick

Duke’s Cooper Flagg heard his name called first on Wednesday night at the 2025 NBA draft when the Dallas Mavericks selected him with the No. 1 overall pick.

Flagg marks Duke’s fourth first-overall pick since 2011. He joins Art Heyman (1963), Elton Brand (1999), Kyrie Irving (2011), Zion Williamson (2019) and Paolo Banchero (2022) as the sixth No. 1 pick in Duke’s history. Duke leads all collegiate programs in No. 1 picks produced, twice as many as second-place Kentucky’s three.

“I’m feeling amazing,” Flagg told ESPN, a white and blue Mavericks hat on his head. “It’s a dream come true, to be honest.”

Flagg entered draft night as the consensus choice to be the No. 1 overall pick. He only met with the Mavericks ahead of Wednesday, opting not to schedule any visits or practices with other NBA teams.

The Mavericks drew the No. 1 pick at the draft lottery in May despite having just a 1.8% chance of winning it. Flagg became the fifth Duke player to be drafted to Dallas alongside Jay Bilas (1986), Phil Henderson (1990), Cherokee Parks (1995) and Wendell Moore Jr. (2022).

“There are a lot of players that are competitive, but if you have tiers of competitiveness, I think (Flagg) would be on the top tier,” Bilas said in an ESPN media call before the draft. “I happen to think he’s the best freshman Duke’s ever had, and not only with the way he performed. You can argue, ‘Wait a minute, Kyrie Irving had a high ceiling when he came out, he was more talented [and] all of that stuff.’ That’s fair. You can argue the same thing about Grant Hill. But neither of them did what Cooper Flagg did as a freshman at Duke.”

In his freshman season, the 6-foot-9 forward averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Flagg earned National Player of the Year, National Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-American honors after sweeping both the ACC POY and Rookie of the Year awards.

Flagg, 18, hails from Newport, Maine. As a five-star prospect, he reclassified to join Duke a year earlier at age 17 and became the top player in the class of 2024. He’s the youngest player availlable in this year’s draft and the second-youngest player to be drafted with the No. 1 overall pick behind Lebron James.

The governor of Maine, Janet Mills, declared Wednesday “Cooper Flagg Day” in anticipation for draft day.

“There’s so much anticipation, so much build-up,” Flagg told NBA TV. “Being in this moment, seeing my mom cry, hugging my family, talking to my brother, it’s just a surreal moment. You see so many people go through it each year, but it’s crazy.”

Flagg led the Blue Devils to ACC regular-season and tournament titles. In the NCAA Tournament, Duke made its first Final Four appearance in the Jon Scheyer’s coaching era, where Duke ultimately lost to Houston, 70-67, in the national semifinals.

This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 8:12 PM with the headline "Dallas Mavericks select Duke’s Cooper Flagg with NBA Draft’s No. 1 overall pick."