By Jonathan Lidskin
The College Basketball season is upon us and oh baby do we have a great season ahead. On the podcast last night, Sam talked about the tremendous talent coming into the sport this year and how people could view this year similarly to how we all view 2019. That of course being the Zion year. So why not start this series featuring a player who is the most transcendental talent since Zion who also happens to be going to Duke for what will be his lone season of college ball. Welcome to the Cooper Flagg era.
Flagg, a re-class freshman out of Maine, is set to take the sport by storm as just a 17-year-old. While many people at any basketball level often view the best players as scorers, Flagg impacts the game in many more ways than just scoring. He has the chance to be the best defender in the country, has incredible athleticism that makes him a transition weapon and has a much-improved jump shot from just one year ago. Flagg will lead a loaded Duke roster against the flagship school (pun intended) from the state he grew up in: Maine.
This Duke team in Jon Scheyer’s third season is not just Flagg however. The Blue Devils return a pair of guards in Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster and bring in some other talented freshmen with Flagg. Kon Knueppel will be an All-ACC caliber player and Khaman Maluach could very well be one of the best defenders in the country. Without going too much further into the roster, this Duke team has a chance to be special with the way it is constructed around Flagg.
With that being said, happy first day of the season! Here are some of the games to look forward to:
Games to look forward to:
Gonzaga vs Baylor (11:30 PM EST, Spokane, WA)
Texas vs Ohio State (10:00 PM EST, Las Vegas, NV)
Texas A&M @ UCF (7:00 PM EST, Orlando, FL)
Mizzou @ Memphis (8:00 PM EST, Memphis, TN)
Mid-Major Games of the day:
Santa Clara vs Saint Louis (3:00 PM EST, Sioux Falls, SD)
Vermont @ UAB (7:30 PM EST, Birmingham, AL)
Wichita State @ Western Kentucky (8:00 PM EST, Bowling Green, KY)
Ohio @ James Madison (7:00 PM EST, Harrisonburg, VA)