<a href="https://www.on3.com/college/duke-blue-devils/">Duke</a> has been a talent factory in recent years, producing <a href="https://www.on3.com/pro/category/nba/news/">NBA</a> prospects such as <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/zion-williamson-123882/">Zion Williamson</a> and, most recently, <a href="https://www.on3.com/db/cooper-flagg-152774/">Cooper Flagg</a>. On the Game Theory Podcast, The Athletic draft expert Sam Vecenie revealed whether he thinks Flagg is a better NBA prospect than Williamson was.



“I personally do,” <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clJXMMKBReg">Vecenie said</a>. “The reason for that is just that Zion always had injury questions. Even going back to high school, he had a couple of injuries that were a real factor there. Cooper does not really have those.



“And on top of it? What Cooper has, is the processing ability and the ability to make crazy, rapid decisions across the court and understands how to map the court as a passer and playmaker. Plus, be able to, I think, play at a high level on defense… Zion was like a great playmaker on defense, but would miss rotations. Cooper is a lot more solid and steady as an overall defender.”



It’s not an easy call to pick one Duke star over the other. Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game last season, while shooting 48.1% from the field and 38.5% from beyond the arc.



In comparison, Williamson averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. He shot 68.0% from the field and 33.8% from 3-point range.



Each of them were named AP Player of the Year for their respective campaigns. While Williamson’s statistics are slightly better than Flagg’s in most areas, Flagg had more team success.



The Blue Devils reached the Final Four this past season while Williamson’s team fell in the Elite Eight despite being the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Flagg is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 <a href="https://www.on3.com/pro/category/nba-draft/news/">NBA Draft</a>, the same way Williamson was back in 2019.



Williamson has been successful in the NBA but missed lots of time due to injuries. Vecenie believes that Flagg will be able to avoid this pitfall. In fact, Vecenie doesn’t see any downsides to Flagg as a prospect.



“He created a ton of advantages with ball screens,” Vecenie said. “He was a constant mismatch nightmare in college, was a pick-and-roll ball handler to an iso threat when he saw a mismatch. They’d run him off screens.



“He was awesome, as a roller and as a cutter. He moves really well without the ball. Like, there is just not really a hole with Cooper Flagg to me, in terms of what his game is.”

Cooper Flagg Zion Williamson NBA Draft prospect comparison

On3 NBA Draft

5GOATs

Sam Vecenie compares Cooper Flagg, Zion Williamson as prospects

team image

Pro News

NFL News

NFL Draft News

NASCAR

NBA News

NBA Draft News

Culture

Sports Betting

About

Football

Basketball

Women's Basketball

Softball

Baseball

Alabama

Arizona State

Arizona

Arkansas

Auburn

Baylor

Boston College

California

Removed

Clemson

Colorado

Duke

Florida

Florida State

Georgia

Georgia Tech

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Iowa State

Kansas

Kansas State

Kentucky

Lettermen Row

Lettermen Lounge

Louisville

Maryland

Miami

Michigan State

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi State

Missouri

NC State

Nebraska

North Carolina

Northwestern

Notre Dame

Ohio State

Oklahoma

Oklahoma State

Ole Miss

The Main Board

Oregon

Oregon State

Penn State

Pittsburgh

Purdue

Rutgers

South Carolina

Stanford

Syracuse

Tennessee

Texas A&M

Texas

Texas Tech

UCLA

Utah

Vanderbilt

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Wake Forest

Washington

Washington State

West Virginia

Wisconsin

BamaOnLine

BOL Round Table

Inside Texas

IT Members Only

DawgsHQ

Dawg Walk

Scoop Duck

Recruiting & Sports

AuburnSports

The Corner

WeAreSC

GarryP's Trojan Huddle

The Wolverine

The Fort

The Lions Den

The Wolfpacker

The Wolves’ Den

GatorsOnline

Swamp Talk

Alabama A&M

Alabama State

Albany

Alcorn State

Abilene Christian

Appalachian State

Akron

Army

Austin Peay

Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Arkansas-Little Rock

Arkansas State

Air Force

Ball State

American

Wofford

Winthrop

Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin-Green Bay

Wichita State

Western Carolina

Volleyball

Gymnastics

Men's Lacrosse

Women's Lacrosse

Men's Soccer

Women's Soccer

Women's Track

Men's Golf

Women's Golf

Men's Hockey

Women's Hockey

Men's Swimming

Women's Swimming

Wrestling

Men's Tennis

Women's Tennis

Annual $1

Annual Premium

Annual $1 

Monthly

Annual

Unlimited Access to This and All Articles.

Article (On3 Plus Rivals)

Forum (On3 Plus Rivals)

Intro

Join

College scoop, experts, and community - all in one.

Winback

Top 25 shakeup on deck

AP Poll Prediction

Punishing players' wallets

Deion Sanders

New No. 1 overall seed

Bracketology update

Buckeyes hire ex-NFL HC

OSU hires OC

Most impactful transfers

Instant Impact