Duke freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg has been voted the 2024-25 ACC Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, headlining five Blue Devils to earn conference postseason honors.
Flagg becomes the fourth player in ACC history to capture the league’s Player and Rookie of the Year awards in the same season, joining former Duke standouts Zion Williamson (2019), Marvin Bagley III (2018) and Jahlil Okafor (2015). The Newport, Maine, native was also selected to the All-ACC First Team, ACC All-Rookie Team and ACC All-Defensive Team, finishing second in the voting for ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
Fellow freshman guard/forward Kon Knueppel was named to the All-ACC Second Team, junior guard Tyrese Proctor secured a spot on the All-ACC Third Team and freshman center Khaman Maluach received All-ACC Honorable Mention recognition. Knueppel and Maluach accompanied Flagg on the ACC All-Rookie Team.
Duke graduate guard Sion James earned ACC All-Defensive Team honors in his lone season as a Blue Devil.
Flagg is the 19th Blue Devil to be saluted as the ACC Player of the Year and 15th to be declared ACC Rookie of the Year.
Duke’s 19 Player of the Year awards, 15 Rookie of the Year recipients, 159 All-ACC selections, 41 All-Rookie Team picks and 34 All-Defensive Team merits are the most in conference history in each category.
In addition, the Blue Devils have had an All-ACC First Team honoree in 17 of the last 18 seasons.
Flagg, who turned 18 years old in December 2024, is the highest rated player in the history of the KenPom Player of the Year Standings (since 2011) with a rating of 2.955, eclipsing Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin in 2015 (2.794). He is also the top-rated player by EvanMiya with a combined offensive and defensive performance rating of 10.87, compared to Johni Broome of Auburn, who is second with a 9.78 rating.
The 6-9, 205-pound freshman leads No. 1 Duke in points (602), rebounds (235), assists (131), steals (47) and blocks (39), and is the only player to rank among the ACC’s top-10 in all five major statistical categories – scoring (3rd), rebounding (8th), assists (8th), blocked shots (9th), and steals (10th). He garnered both ACC player and rookie of the week honors in the same week five times this season, becoming the first player in ACC history to sweep the conference weekly awards more than twice. His 12 ACC Rookie of the Week citations are a new conference record. Flagg became the youngest player in NCAA history to post a 40-point game when he broke the Duke and ACC freshman single-game scoring records with 42 points versus Notre Dame on Jan. 11.
Knueppel is the team’s second-leading scorer with 13.7 points per contest, while adding 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per outing. His 69 three-pointers rank seventh in the conference.
Proctor, who became the 70th Blue Devil to score 1,000 career points, averages 12.0 points, 3.2 boards and 2.2 helpers per game, and is positioned ninth in the ACC with 67 three-pointers.
Maluach averages 8.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocked shots per outing, while shooting a team-high 68.3% from the field, aided by a team-best 57 dunks. Among ACC leaders, the 7-2 center ranks sixth in offensive rebounds (87) and 11th in rejections (34).
James, who owns the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league (2.58), averages 8.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per contest, while shooting 53.9% from the field, 42.6% from three-point range and 80.8% from the free-throw line. Since James entered the starting lineup, the Blue Devils have won 22 of 23 games.
No. 1 Duke (28-3, 19-1 ACC), the ACC regular-season champions, will compete in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Thursday, March 13 at noon, facing the winner of the Georgia Tech versus Virginia game.
For more information on Duke Basketball, follow the Blue Devils on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching “DukeMBB”.
2024-25 ACC AWARDS
Player of the Year – Cooper Flagg, Fr., G/F, Duke
Rookie of the Year – Cooper Flagg, G/F, Duke
Defensive Player of the Year – Chucky Hepburn, Sr., G, Louisville
Most Improved Player – Donald Hand Jr., So., Boston College
Sixth Man of the Year – Jeremiah Wilkinson, Fr., G, California
Coach of the Year – Pat Kelsey, Louisville
2024-25 ALL-ACC TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Name, School, Points
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 400
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 392
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville, 364
Chase Hunter, Clemson, 328
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 257
SECOND TEAM
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 241
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 238
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 225
Kon Knueppel, Duke, 208
Jamir Watkins, Florida State, 150
THIRD TEAM
Terrence Edwards Jr., Louisville, 125
Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 72
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 72
Boopie Miller, SMU, 71
Jaland Lowe, Pitt, 62
HONORABLE MENTION
Matthew Cleveland, Miami, 49
Andrej Stojakovic, California, 48
Naithan George, Georgia Tech, 40
Isaac McKneely, Virginia, 38
J.J. Starling, Syracuse, 32
Donald Hand Jr., Boston College, 29
Cameron Hildreth, Wake Forest, 26
Khaman Maluach, Duke, 23
Viktor Lakhin, Clemson, 20
Eddie Lampkin, Syracuse, 19
Note: All-ACC Team points are determined on a 5-3-1 system (five points for first team, three points for second team, one point for third team).
Player of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 76 votes
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 4
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville, 1
Rookie of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 79 votes
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 2
Defensive Player of the Year
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville, 32 votes
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 26
Jaeden Zackery, Clemson, 8
Zack Austin, Pitt, 4
Maliq Brown, Duke, 3
Chad Venning, Boston College, 2
Khaman Maluach, Duke, 2
Sion James, Duke, 1
Mady Sissoko, California, 1
Tae Davis, Notre Dame 1
Cameron Hildreth, Wake Forest 1
Sixth Man of the Year
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 22 votes
Duncan Powell, Georgia Tech, 15
Ian Jackson, North Carolina, 13
Maliq Brown, Duke, 11
Kario Oquendo, SMU, 11
Isaiah Evans, Duke, 9
Most Improved Player
Donald Hand Jr., Boston College, 25 votes
Jaylen Blakes, Stanford, 22
Tae Davis, Notre Dame, 8
Naithan George, Georgia Tech, 7
Jaland Lowe, Pitt, 7
Andrej Stojakovic, California, 4
Andrew Rohde, Virginia, 4
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 2
Eddie Lampkin, Syracuse, 1
Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 1
Coach of the Year
Pat Kelsey, Louisville, 47 votes
Jon Scheyer, Duke, 25
Brad Brownell, Clemson, 8
Kyle Smith, Stanford, 1
All-Defensive Team
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville, 70 votes
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 57
Jaeden Zackery, Clemson, 55
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 34
Sion James, Duke, 28
Zack Austin, Pitt, 28
All-Rookie Team
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 80 votes
Kon Knueppel, Duke, 79
Ian Jackson, North Carolina, 65
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 59
Khaman Maluach, Duke, 47
81 total votes
Note: coaches cannot vote for their players
