r/CollegeBasketball 1d ago

This is one of the greatest plays I’ve ever seen live. Cooper Flagg just HAD THE POSTER OF THE YEAR. Video

https://youtube.com/watch?v=VTYgGK-y2e4&si=yvJx5wOtJVWSp14y
296 Upvotes

426

u/Tubby-Maguire Maryland Terrapins 1d ago

Came back hungry from that Hilton Head vacation

147

u/NumbersGod Xavier Musketeers 1d ago

The Salty Dog Cafe will do that to ya

3

u/SpankThatDill North Carolina Tar Heels • Sout… 18h ago

I’m more of a frosty frog kind of guy but to each their own

9

u/Leadbelly82 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Haha. Top comment!

255

u/bulldog89 Indiana Hoosiers 1d ago

We need more highlights in this sub

100

u/LostIn_TheWorld UCLA Bruins • Grand Canyon Antelopes 1d ago

Wait I thought he was on a family vacay....

ON HIS DOME SHEESH

146

u/DamnItHeelsGood North Carolina Tar Heels 1d ago

Is it just me or do the rims in Cameron always have a very distinct sound to them? As long as I can remember, they have always had the tin can rattling sound when somebody yams hard like this. Maybe they are mic’d different or something.

95

u/0010001 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Definitely has a distinct sound, it has to be the mics. 

85

u/cameroncrazy278 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago edited 1d ago

Since Duke's baskets are hung from the ceiling instead of sitting on the floor, I assume the mic is in a different location. I'm not sure how many arenas still have Duke's set-up.

The sound they make on a basket is also perfect. I can hear Ryan Kelly's 3 pointer going in to take the lead against UNC after being down big at half even if it's not actually audible with the crowd.

14

u/ShootForBall North Carolina Tar Heels • BYU Cougars 1d ago

Good point, that’s gotta be it

7

u/ahappypoop Duke Blue Devils • NC State Wolfpack 17h ago

Cameron is one of only 2 arenas in college basketball with the goals hanging down, with the other one being in Boulder Colorado.

1

u/Electrical_Mayhem 7h ago

more arenas should do it tbh

22

u/SpellingMisteaks Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

It’s such a cool and distinct sound too

14

u/ColoRadOrgy Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

"... 40-minute game at Duke, they got soft rims I'd probably score 84 or 85. I wouldn't pass the ball. I wouldn't even think about passing it. It would be like a NBA Live or an NBA 2K7 game, you just shoot with one person," -Gilbert Arenas lol

7

u/Mdtwheeler Duke Blue Devils • Murray State Racers 1d ago

Arizona’s arena had the same thing

20

u/Cr0matose Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Deer lord man

54

u/DionBlaster123 Niagara Purple Eagles 1d ago

As much as I hate Duke, you can't deny that was great

14

u/Utterlybored Duke Blue Devils 21h ago

As much as I love Duke, I agree.

5

u/DionBlaster123 Niagara Purple Eagles 19h ago

Somewhere in Heaven, Vic Bubas and Bill Foster are smiling upon thee

2

u/Masterchiefy10 Florida Gators 23h ago

Right you are Dubya

11

u/DionBlaster123 Niagara Purple Eagles 19h ago

Now watch this drive

1

u/Masterchiefy10 Florida Gators 15h ago

3

u/DionBlaster123 Niagara Purple Eagles 15h ago

In my defense, they should have had a sign on that door. That's how we would have done it in Texas, Tennessee too.

39

u/BlackedOutCactus Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

ON HIS HEAD 🥶

20

u/Other_Machine8814 1d ago

BRO TURNED HIM INTO A PE TEACHER

126

u/joeveralls Cincinnati Bearcats • Ohio Bobcats 1d ago

Did he not double dribble? But glad it wasn’t called

63

u/EncyclopediaBlue Harvard Crimson 1d ago

Rule of cool.

6

u/joeveralls Cincinnati Bearcats • Ohio Bobcats 1d ago

I’m ok with that

49

u/joshuads Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago

First one is not a dribble as he did not yet have possession. He is gathering a tipped pass. Then starts to dribble

-8

u/ismelllikebobdole 1d ago

He picks it up and takes 2 steps. Travel.

11

u/BitterJD Arizona Wildcats 20h ago

The game has changed. They don’t call stuff like that anymore. When you were taught basketball, that was correct.

From a rules perspective, the play is silly. Offensive player throws it right to Flagg. Rather than catch the ball, he advances a dribble. Then he grabs the ball entering a three point stance. Then he takes two steps without a dribble. Then he starts dribbling. That would be suicides for the whole gym in a practice in the ‘90s or early 2000’s.

2

u/BigH0ney Duke Blue Devils 11h ago

As someone that played in the early 2000s, that still wasn’t a double dribble then. He tipped the ball away playing defense. That move is not him gaining possession. So he absolutely could grab with two hands and then start dribbling after that. Which is what he did. The initial poke away is not a dribble.

0

u/BitterJD Arizona Wildcats 10h ago

You’re creating precedent allowing for a tip instead of any catch, creating the right to self-pass. We both know he was in full control of that “tip.” It looked like Flagg was receiving a post entry pass [something else that isn’t part of basketball anymore].

2

u/BigH0ney Duke Blue Devils 10h ago

That’s the rule. He never gained possession. He tipped the pass. He didn’t grab it initially. It happens all of the time. The precedent has been set way before this. He was behind a player, got around and tipped the entry pass, and then gathered. At no point in the tipping did he maintain possession. He still had to go chase it down. It’s not that fucking hard. I swear half of this subreddit has literally never played ball competitively and never learned how to play.

2

u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs 18h ago

Yeah, actually a pretty easy call that I’ve seen called a bunch of times this year. It’s funny because ESPN showed the full play once on SportsCenter and then when they showed all the replays, they started it right after he traveled.

0

u/BigH0ney Duke Blue Devils 11h ago

He didn’t travel.

0

u/Jorge_Santos69 North Carolina Tar Heels 10h ago

He literally traveled dude lol

2

u/BigH0ney Duke Blue Devils 10h ago

He literally did not dude lol. It’s really showing who didn’t actually play high level basketball in this thread.

0

u/Jorge_Santos69 North Carolina Tar Heels 9h ago

NCAA rules on traveling

  1. A player who catches the ball while moving or ends a dribble may stop and establish a pivot foot as follows: a. When both feet are off the playing court and the player lands:
  2. Simultaneously on both feet, either may be the pivot foot;
  3. On one foot followed by the other, the first foot to touch shall be the pivot foot;
  4. On one foot, the player may jump off that foot and simultaneously land on both, in which case neither foot can be the pivot foot. b. When one foot is on the playing court:
  5. That foot shall be the pivot foot when the other foot touches in a step;
  6. The player may jump off that foot and simultaneously land on both, in which case neither foot can then be the pivot foot.

Cooper taps the ball out in front of him and catches it (which is legal and not a double dribble). He catches the ball with his left foot on the ground, then steps with his right foot, then steps down with his left foot again, before releasing the ball for a dribble, making this a travel.

You didn’t ball at any level my guy. As your flair makes clear, you didn’t even ball at recess. You were the kid who put the ball under his shirt and ran around telling people ‘I’m pregnant’ and then went crying to the teacher when the kids who actually wanted to ball took the ball away from you.

0

u/BigH0ney Duke Blue Devils 9h ago

Brother that was not a travel. No mather how you try and twist the rules. I’ve watched it a hundred times. I never said I played at Duke. Would you like to see my ring though?

I just rewatched for the thousandth time. He tips the ball, gets possession with both hands as his right foot is down, as he steps with his left foot he dribbles with his left hand. Like - are you blind or stupid?

0

u/BigH0ney Duke Blue Devils 9h ago

Don’t worry, I’m getting the slow mo recording ready for you

1

u/Jorge_Santos69 North Carolina Tar Heels 9h ago

I beat you to it dude lol

56

u/BugO_OEyes Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 1d ago

I don't think so that first dribble was more of a reach in steal with no control

49

u/joshuads Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago

Poke steal, gather with both hands, and then begins dribbling.

8

u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs 18h ago

Running with ball when holding with two hands. Come on guys.

2

u/smilescart 18h ago

lol you can’t gather and keep dribbling

34

u/0010001 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Guess it depends how much control he had at first?  Because if it’s just knocking it away from an opponent he can then grab it with two hands and begin his dribble.  

27

u/FlowingEons 1d ago

Right, that has to be it. Tipping it and then the ball bouncing shouldn’t count as possession. It just looks really awkward.

7

u/joeveralls Cincinnati Bearcats • Ohio Bobcats 1d ago

Was wondering that. Probably a situation where some refs might call it and others leave it

3

u/twojeeeps Duke Blue Devils 10h ago

To be fair these same refs called a travel when Proctor was in the air and bounce passed to a team mate before he landed

2

u/Orange_Kid Syracuse Orange 15h ago

Yeah I think it's really really close in terms of the 2 handing, if it's for a fraction of a second longer it's a clearer travel. As it is, probably a 50/50 call but I'm not surprised at the no call or think it's anything egregious.

9

u/JustiseWinfast Gonzaga Bulldogs 1d ago

You could argue it’s not clear possession

19

u/Leadbelly82 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

He did another poster a minute later. One for the haters

6

u/originalruins 18h ago

A deflection from a defensive player creates a loose ball scenario, which ends once a player establishes control

-15

u/thvnderfvck Kentucky Wildcats • Morehead State E… 1d ago

Looked like a double dribble to me, but I'm not sure when the rules say possession of the ball is actually his

22

u/BigH0ney Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

He poked it away, it bounced, he then picked up with two hands to gather it and THEN started his dribble. A tip on defense like that will never (or should never, some of these refs are wild) be called as a double because it wasn’t a dribble.

-6

u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs 18h ago

He actually traveled because he dribbled it once and picked up the ball with both hands. So travel or double dribble I’m not sure.

0

u/Lakeshow15 8h ago

I’m a hs ref and this one came up in our meeting. 100% a clean play.

Deflection then grabbed it with two hands beginning his control.

19

u/Coffee____Freak Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

7

u/Brave_Commission 1d ago

the flagg show 🙂‍↕️🤧😏😈

17

u/mjd1977 Vanderbilt Commodores • Villanova Wild… 1d ago

Something doesn’t compute. White Duke superstar, and I can’t hate!

10

u/sliceboi Duke Blue Devils • UAlbany Great Danes 1d ago

Bc he’s just a kid lol

0

u/Onlymoneyleft 1d ago

I think it’s because this kid is actually good. Better than Laettner/Reddick/Grayson Allen will ever be. We are talking about all time great in NBA level in the future, and he’s 18yrs. So this one will be different.

5

u/Mdtwheeler Duke Blue Devils • Murray State Racers 12h ago

Lol flair up before commenting this wild take - cooper is not better than laettner or reddick

0

u/Catch11 17h ago

Yeah he also doesnt have this smug look while also playing dirty lol

23

u/lunarcrenshaw100 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

COOPER WAS ANGRY ON THAT DUNK!!!

22

u/mspe1960 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

He was. The play before, Duke got a terrible out bounds call under the Pitt basket and the follow on inbound he committed his 3rd foul.

6

u/SgoDEACS 1d ago

Brutal week to be a Yinzer

3

u/Adidas_Tracksuit Pittsburgh Panthers 1d ago

More to come Saturday

1

u/SgoDEACS 14h ago

As a ravens season ticket holder, I hope so

16

u/AdmiralWackbar NC State Wolfpack 1d ago

Of course the best basketball player to ever come out of the state I’m from goes to Duke. Yes I bought his jersey, yes I feel like a traitor

11

u/FlashFett North Carolina Tar Heels 19h ago

You couldn’t have waited till he joined the NBA??

3

u/AdmiralWackbar NC State Wolfpack 17h ago

No way. The amount of swag I already have is off the charts. The hype is on another level. Everyone I know has been freaking out about this kid since he dropped 60 at the Slam Rucker Park invitational at 16 (most points since KD). We can’t get enough of Cooper Flagg

-2

u/FlashFett North Carolina Tar Heels 17h ago

Swag? I guess you’re not on or near NC State

6

u/MrDannyOcean Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Feel like Maine is real trendy these days, everybody's going to Maine for summers.

4

u/iEatPalpatineAss Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Maine is definitely much cooler than Hilton Head ✌️😎

9

u/Free_ Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago

Holy-

12

u/Other_Machine8814 1d ago

Bro gave him a lil boy kiss after

8

u/Leadbelly82 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

God mode

7

u/abandoned_rain Duke Blue Devils • North Texas Mean Green 1d ago

jesus christ that’s jason bourne

10

u/Eruditio_Et_Religio Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Utter domination

9

u/Gelandequaff Michigan State Spartans 1d ago

Coen Carr would like to have a word.

10

u/Other_Machine8814 1d ago

IT WAS A MURDER- CHRIS SMOOVE

4

u/Onlymoneyleft 1d ago

That is a grown ass man’s dunk right there.

4

u/HovercraftOptimal731 1d ago

Accidentally turned this game on for 5 seconds and this was the only thing i saw 💀💀

8

u/mrjimi16 North Carolina Tar Heels 1d ago

I must be out of the loop, because I feel like I see the play fairly often, and I don't even watch that much basketball. He's dunking over a guy in a fairly average athletic way.

4

u/Quackattackaggie Utah State Aggies 1d ago

Always hits different when it's your favorite team. Like I still dream about this one and remember where I was when it happened https://youtu.be/RcVWF-pFQOM?si=p2nn8i9SBmMpkxmJ

1

u/Herby20 Purdue Boilermakers 19h ago

4

u/1174239 Duke Blue Devils 22h ago

I think some context got left out of the clip - the sequence immediately prior, Pitt had the ball and threw it out of bounds on a bad pass, but the refs messed up the call and said it went off of us

Cooper then immediately picked up his third foul. Then the sequence in the video happened. Kind of felt like Cooper just said "screw this" regarding what had just happened and went and made a play on his own.

1

u/EERHereYaHear West Virginia Mountaineers 12h ago

THIS is the correct take.

Pretty filthy, but nothing we don't see 20+ times per season. That dunk will be long forgotten by March.

-8

u/jlakbj North Carolina Tar Heels 19h ago edited 10h ago

I've seen at least two better dunks

by UNC players

at Cameron

at that end of the court

edit: lol, the dookies are SALTY about this one

2

u/diabeticstoner Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago

BAH GAWD

2

u/deaconblues1027 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

I'm giddy af!

2

u/violentguitarist1 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago

👀👀

2

u/tjmiles2 Pittsburgh Panthers 1d ago

Sad hail noises

2

u/durmduke Duke Blue Devils 19h ago

That's a bad man

4

u/BigH0ney Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Coop just put his nuts in that dudes mouth

4

u/joshuakyle94 Arkansas Razorbacks 1d ago

Love watching Flagg he’s a beast

2

u/Admirable_Excuse6211 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

😮‍💨

3

u/Swimming-System-4498 18h ago

one of the greatest plays you’ve ever seen live? do you not watch a ton of basketball or?

2

u/notedgarfigaro Duke Blue Devils 11h ago

how many people actually see live basketball consistently at a level where that wouldn't be one of the greatest plays they've seen?

I mean, I spent 4 years at Duke, and averaged 10 home games a year. I catch on average 1 Duke game live and maybe 2 other live NBA or college games per year. I would think that puts me well above average for D1 college or higher level live basketball games in my lifetime, and Cooper's dunk would have been one of the greatest plays I would have seen live, had I seen it live.

Live basketball at the D1 or NBA level is a luxury that many people just don't get to see.

u/Jorge_Santos69 North Carolina Tar Heels 59m ago

I guess it’s true that most Duke fans don’t actually go to school there, so they miss the whole 4 years of free live basketball that a lot of fans of other teams experience lol

1

u/e_d_s_ North Carolina Tar Heels 17h ago

Yea man this isn’t even top 2 dunks in this building… Stack and Green come to mind 😊

5

u/mindriot1 Gonzaga Bulldogs 18h ago

So yes, it was a great play. It was also a travel before he got to half court.

2

u/AFlockOfTySegalls North Carolina Tar Heels 19h ago

I'm afraid this dude is going to eat us alive.

2

u/CantFindMyWallet UConn Huskies 1d ago

would have been cool if we'd gotten that guy

20

u/Cr0matose Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Hard disagree

8

u/Transformah Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Hard agree with your hard disagree

1

u/Mdtwheeler Duke Blue Devils • Murray State Racers 5h ago

I’ll second the hard agree here

1

u/excitement2k Villanova Wildcats 1d ago

Yes

1

u/Ok_Card9080 Pittsburgh Panthers 1d ago

Oh Pitt. You never cease to disappoint.

1

u/Yassinetheawesome64 Oregon Ducks 20h ago

What a Player!

1

u/ras5003 Colorado State Rams • Gonzaga Bulldogs 18h ago

17 years old?

2

u/PedroTheLyon Duke Blue Devils 10h ago

he turned 18 a few weeks ago.

1

u/ras5003 Colorado State Rams • Gonzaga Bulldogs 10h ago

Ahhh, thanks

1

u/sdrj77 15h ago

I love the Andrei Kirilenko comps most for Flagg.

AK47 would make obscene amounts of money in today's NBA.

1

u/TarHeel2496 North Carolina Tar Heels 14h ago

That was nuts

1

u/HansBlixJr Kansas Jayhawks 1d ago

good player, great play. poster of the year? let's not get carried away. maybe at the YMCA gym.

1

u/Superb-Possibility-9 20h ago

Duke basketball with Cooper has become appointment television

1

u/Working-Doctor9578 Duke Blue Devils 15h ago

0

u/teslaabr Michigan State Spartans 1d ago

I know I’m biased but Coen Carr has a dunk like this every game…albeit not necessarily off a steal.

This is a great play but not poster of the year? 🤔🤷‍♂️

0

u/JimDongBong North Carolina Tar Heels 20h ago

Greatest plays you’ve ever seen live? You uh…must not watch much basketball

1

u/Accomplished-Menu741 10h ago

And must be too you g to remember Danny Green.

-4

u/Godzirrraaa Central Washington Wildcats 1d ago

Maybe the poster of the year, but that Coen Carr launching from the third slash is gonna be very hard to beat as best dunk.

-1

u/IIIllllIIIllI 1d ago

Looked like he double dribbled but that was nasty regardless

-1

u/Particular-Walk1521 18h ago

Greatest play you’ve ever seen live? Watch more basketball

-7

u/friedmpa Vermont Catamounts 20h ago

Double dribble had control, also a travel

-3

u/Plupandblup 18h ago

Maybe it's just me, but these types of dunks do not get me hyped up, at all.

There's gotta be some type of rules violation or something when two guys just run and jump into each other in the air.

The offensive player can just swing and smash into the defender because he has the ball? If the defender were to approach from that angle of attack and just jump into the offensive player they'd be crucified.

Also, he barely made the basket. Haha

-1

u/ReplacementAgent4510 15h ago

Meh... It was a good dunk but I won't remember it in a couple days.

-29

u/johnnycr18 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago

Amazing dunk but he double dribbled big time lol

21

u/joshuads Wisconsin Badgers 1d ago

Nah. Poke steal, gather with both hands, then begins dribbling.

-25

u/johnnycr18 Kentucky Wildcats 1d ago

Down vote me all you want. It's a double dribble. This isn't the NBA where you get to take 10 steps and call it a gather lol

14

u/0010001 Duke Blue Devils 1d ago

Down vote me all you want 

Ok 

5

u/mrjimi16 North Carolina Tar Heels 1d ago

To double dribble you have to have control of the ball. He didn't have control over it when he tipped the pass.

-10

u/jmaN- 1d ago

Surprised he could do it without throwing a forearm

-6

u/wongwian 19h ago

Double dribble

-3

u/wongwian 19h ago

And a bit of a travel

-2

u/EERHereYaHear West Virginia Mountaineers 12h ago

Poster of the year? Yea I guess, since it's only January 8th LMAO. Greatest play you've seen live? Must not go to a lot of games...

Impressive for a white dude, but some of y'all need to relax.

-2

u/NoogabyNature Chattanooga Mocs • Tennessee Voluntee… 12h ago

Double dribble.

-18

u/Shenanigangster Virginia Cavaliers • Sickos 1d ago

That was a carry lol

-20

u/pocketbookashtray Pittsburgh Panthers 1d ago

Anywhere else that’s called a double dribble.

6

u/mrjimi16 North Carolina Tar Heels 1d ago

No it isn't, he never had control of the ball, he tipped the pass and then got control of it.

-4

u/heleghir Kentucky Wildcats 18h ago

Massive poster geeez. But that was a double dribble in my book. He had control after the poke steal before the 2 hands on the ball. Kinda glad it wasnt called because then this dunk doesnt happen, but yeah

-16

u/TonyWilliams03 Purdue Boilermakers 1d ago

Clearly double dribbled.