Cooper Flagg becomes 8th Duke player to win the Wooden Award

Cooper Flagg continues to rack up awards in his stellar freshman season. The Duke forward was named the John R. Wooden Award winner as the nation’s top men’s player, beating Auburn‘s Johni Broome by 178 votes on Saturday.

He is Duke’s eighth Wooden winner, the most of any school. He is also just the fourth freshman to ever win the award and the first since 2019, when Zion Williamson did so while also playing for the Blue Devils.

Flagg averaged 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists while leading the Blue Devils to the Final Four. They are set to face the Houston Cougars on Saturday night.

The other finalists were Walter Clayton Jr. of Florida, Mark Sears of Alabama and Braden Smith of Purdue.

Flagg, who is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, was also named The Associated Press player of the year on Friday. On the women’s side, USC sophomore JuJu Watkins won both the Wooden Award and AP player of the year.

Voting took place from March 11-24 by a national panel of sportswriters and sportscasters, along with former Wooden Award winners.

Both the men’s and women’s trophies will be presented April 11 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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