Duke coach not happy with his staff over big Cooper Flagg issue

Oct 20, 2023; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils recruit Cooper Flagg during Countdown to Craziness at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Cooper Flagg has looked every bit as good as advertised for the Duke Blue Devils so far, but he is dealing with an issue that seemingly has the team’s coaching staff in some hot water.

Duke coach Jon Scheyer was somewhat critical of himself and his staff after Flagg missed the bulk of the second half of Saturday’s 100-58 win over Army. Flagg was dealing with cramping, and Scheyer suggested the staff had not done enough to take care of Flagg.

“Yeah, we’ve got to help him,” Scheyer said, via Kyle Boone of CBS Sports. “We’ve got to help him. I’m not happy about it, for him. We’ve got to help him — and we will. Right after this, I can promise you I’m going to be meeting [with Duke’s staff]. I don’t care if it’s all night. We can’t have that happen, bottom line.

“It’s all of us. It’s me, our coaches, our medical team, sport performance. It’s all of us. We’ve got to help him. He’s doing everything he needs to in preparation. He prepares his butt off: he drinks, eats the right way, does everything he needs to. We’ve got to help him take care of this. Now.”

Flagg still wound up with 13 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes of action, but Duke obviously wanted to get him a bigger workload. The jump from high school basketball to college is a big one, even for a guy like Flagg, so these growing pains are to be expected.

Flagg held his own in USA Basketball camp, but the intensity of that still does not compare to actual games. He should be fine, and Duke’s staff has certainly been put on notice to make sure that’s the case.