March Madness
The 6ft 9in sensation has starred for the Duke Blue Devils in his freshman year and has led his team to the final four.
Flagg, an 18-year-old freshman, has taken the NCAA by storm in his first season in the college game and led Duke to a 28-3 regular season record. He won the ACC Player of the Year award and has quickly established himself as one of the undisputed stars of college sport. As such, he’s been able to cash in from the lucrative NIL agreements now available to athletes.
The NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals allow players to cash in on their enormous fame by signing sponsorship deals with major brands. On3 reports that Flagg is currently the highest-valued basketball player in the NCAA with an NIL valuation of $4.8 million, behind only Texas quarterback Arch Manning ($6.5m) among all student athletes.
Flagg is the No. 1 projected pick for the 2025 NBA Draft and the frontrunner for the Wooden Award, given to the outstanding men’s and women’s college basketball players in the US. Here’s how his NIL compares to the other top earners in March Madness…
1. Cooper Flag, Duke – $4.8m
2. Braden Smith, Purdue – $1.9m
3. Maxime Raynaud, Stanford – $1.8m
4. PJ Haggerty, Memphis – $1.7m
=5. Dylan Harper, Rutgers, $1.6m
=5. Kam Jones, Marquette, $1.6m
=5. Ace Bailey, Rutgers, $1.6m
The size of Flagg’s NIL deal may actually convince him to hold off on declaring for the NBA for another year. In the past, prospects would look to make the step up as soon as possible to escape the strictly-amateur rules of the NCAA.
However with a substantial payday coming his way already, the 18-year-old could decide to delay the move. Bleacher Report projects Flagg, should he declare for the draft, to be selected with the No. 1 pick by the Washington Wizards. Should he leave the college game after one year with Duke it may go done as one of the great ‘one-and-done’ seasons of the NCAA, particularly if he can lead the team to something special in March Madness this month.
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