\u201cThe legend of Cooper Flagg,\u201d said Duke general manager Rachel Baker, \u201csuperseded him a little bit before he got here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Knueppel, on the hand, was \u2026 not. He\u2019d earned some summer buzz from NBA scouts cycling through Durham, N.C., to see Flagg, but he was nowhere near where he wound up \u2014 as the fourth pick of the 2025 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets.<\/p>\n
No surprise, then, that Flagg set the tone for Duke most days in practice. Despite only being 17 years old at the beginning of the Blue Devils\u2019 season, Flagg had the most energy in the gym, his trickle-down competitiveness fueling a team that made the Final Four and became one of college basketball\u2019s best in recent history.<\/p>\n
But one preseason practice, which head coach Jon Scheyer and his staff still point to, Flagg didn\u2019t have his best stuff.<\/p>\n
The guy who called him out? Knueppel, who didn\u2019t hesitate in telling the future No. 1 pick and national player of the year: Get your head in the game, Cooper Flagg!<\/p>\n
\u201cCooper looked at him, eye to eye, and said, \u2018I got you,\u2019\u201d Scheyer remembered, \u201cand Cooper went on to just kill the rest of the day in practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
After practice, Scheyer \u2014 who won a national championship as a player in 2010 \u2014 couldn\u2019t hide his excitement about what had transpired.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really hard for young players to confront each other, to get after one another,\u201d he said. \u201cMe and Gerald Henderson grew to the point where we\u2019d motherf\u2014er each other once a week. That was a normal thing; you just learn to do that, and that doesn\u2019t happen anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is why Knueppel doing so struck such a chord.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember Jon leaving and being like, \u2018This is f\u2014ing awesome\u2019 after Kon told Cooper to get his stuff together,\u201d Baker said. \u201cHe was like, \u2018This is everything you want in a team.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the former Duke stars \u2014 and former college roommates \u2014 will face each other for the first time in an NBA game when the Dallas Mavericks host the Charlotte Hornets. Flagg, who who leads the Mavericks in scoring, rebounds and assists, is exceptionally well-rounded for someone who will still be a teenager for another 11 months. Knueppel is averaging 18.7 points per game and has been not only one of the most productive 3-point shooters among rookies but in the entire league. His 153 3-point makes are the third-most in the NBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only right, with what they\u2019ve gone through to this point, that it\u2019s going to come down to the two of them (for Rookie of the Year),\u201d Scheyer said. \u201cIt\u2019s only right. I think it\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
\n Cooper Flagg (2) and Kon Knueppel made for a dynamic young tandem for the Duke Blue Devils in their short times with the team. (Patrick Smith \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Not long after Flagg moved onto campus at Duke, he flew to Las Vegas to play for the U.S. Select Team.<\/p>\n
Baker accompanied him on that trip, her first real experience around the budding superstar. She realized then \u2014 when she used her buddy pass to get Flagg into his first Delta lounge, and later picked up the tab when they ate Chick-fil-A \u2014 just how much of a normal kid Flagg really was.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe one or two people asked him, \u2018Are you Cooper Flagg?\u2019\u201d Baker said. \u201cAnd he kept being like, \u2018No, I\u2019m Ace\u2019 (his twin brother who\u2019s a freshman at the University of Maine), which is the most Cooper thing ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flagg\u2019s performance that week in Las Vegas, when he went toe-to-toe against American basketball\u2019s equivalent of \u201cThe Avengers,\u201d raised his profile dramatically. \u201cYou can see how bad he wants it,\u201d Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker gushed. Flagg was considered the favorite to be the No. 1 draft pick before ever playing a game at Duke.<\/p>\n
As the Blue Devils got off to a 20-2 start, routinely playing on national TV, no one sensed much change in Flagg. He remained grounded \u2014 the same youthful spirit who would bring water guns into the cold tub after practice.<\/p>\n
Knueppel was similarly down to earth, even as his draft stock soared as the second-leading scorer on one of the most dominant teams in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best way to describe it is they\u2019re just old souls,\u201d Baker said. \u201cIn a time where everyone\u2019s talking about social media \u2026 we had these two throwback old souls show up on campus that didn\u2019t really care about the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flagg found comfort binging episodes of the TV show \u201cSuits\u201d and sneaking in nine holes of golf when his schedule allowed. Knueppel, meanwhile, was a sports history buff, whose dorm room walls were decorated with old Sports Illustrated covers, and who listened to episodes of \u201cThe Bill Simmons Podcast.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scheyer learned about Knueppel\u2019s love for sports history during the recruiting process over a meal\u00a0alongside Duke associate head coach Chris Carrawell. The three played a game, taking turns naming NBA and NCAA champions in reverse starting in 2023.<\/p>\n
For the only time Scheyer can remember, Knueppel beat both of them in a \u201cStump the Schwab\u201d-esque performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cKon won,\u201d Scheyer said, \u201cbecause Kon knows everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c(It\u2019s) not even just basketball,\u201d Flagg added. \u201cFootball. Baseball. He just knows a lot of ball. He\u2019s definitely a little bit of a guru.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flagg, from Newport, Maine, wasn\u2019t much of a football fan, so Knueppel would spend most Sundays on campus in another apartment: that of forward Neal Begovich and center Ryan Young. Knueppel, from Milwaukee, would regularly show up at 8 a.m., plop on the couch and watch NFL games \u2014 including his home-state Green Bay Packers \u2014 all day long.<\/p>\n
While their routines differed, Flagg and Knueppel still had plenty in common. Both grew up in cold-weather places and came from large families where all the children were boys. Flagg, in addition to his twin, has an older brother, Hunter. Kneuppel is the oldest of five boys \u2014 all of them with \u201cK\u201d monikers, which Flagg learned in no time flat.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got Kon, Kinston, Kash, Kager and Kidman,\u201d Flagg said, rattling them off in a staccato tone.<\/p>\n
On the court at Duke, Flagg and Knueppel were natural complements. Flagg was impossible to keep out of the lane and did practically everything well. Knueppel wasn\u2019t as tall or explosive, but he was a lethal shooter who consistently made high-IQ plays learned from years battling in his father\u2019s men\u2019s league back home. Together, they formed one of college basketball\u2019s most potent duos.<\/p>\n
Knueppel even proved during the ACC tournament \u2014 which Flagg missed most of with a sprained ankle \u2014 that he was capable of handling a starring role. Knueppel led Duke to the ACC title, winning tournament MVP honors while averaging 21 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.<\/p>\n
Nobody cheered harder for him than Flagg on the sideline.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir personalities were perfect for each other in terms of their competitiveness, their unselfishness and just how smart they were,\u201d Scheyer said. \u201cThose guys want to ball and want to be with their friends and family. That\u2019s really who they are, and I think that allowed them to just be level-headed the whole way.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/USATSI_26161217-e1769575703826.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Kon Knueppel (left) and Cooper Flagg, once college roommates and teammates at Duke, became two of the top-five picks in the 2025 NBA Draft. (David Banks \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
On the night of the NBA Draft Lottery, Flagg, Knueppel and Duke teammate Khaman Maluach were seated next to each other. When NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum announced that the Mavericks had won the No. 1 pick, the mood inside the room was shock and wonderment.<\/p>\n
The Mavericks, who three months earlier made the controversial Luka Don\u010di\u0107 trade, were essentially being gifted another star. Flagg sounded excited about the chance to play with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, two former No. 1 picks.<\/p>\n
But his most animated moment on draft night, by far, came when the Hornets chose Knueppel as the No. 4 pick. Flagg was in the middle of an interview with NBA TV when Knueppel\u2019s selection was announced and shot up from his seat in excitement.<\/p>\n
To no surprise, the former roommates remain close. They speak at least once a month \u2014 although mostly about their apartments, families and girlfriends, Knueppel said, and not basketball. In October, after Dallas hosted Charlotte in the preseason, Flagg called Knueppel, \u201ca friend for life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe follow each other\u2019s games and see all that stuff,\u201d Knueppel said. \u201cIt\u2019s, more so, how\u2019s life?\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the Rookie of the Year debate, Knueppel is the more polished scorer right now, while Flagg is the superior defensive player who also owns the edge in rebounding and assists.<\/p>\n
But no matter who finishes in second, the people who know Flagg and Knueppel best predict there will be no hard feelings between two of the league\u2019s rising stars.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou couldn\u2019t find two people that are bigger fans of each other,\u201d Scheyer said. \u201cI think that\u2019s something that can happen when it\u2019s, \u2018Well, is it Kon or is it Cooper?\u2019 You\u2019re not going to split those dudes apart, man, because both those guys love each other and what they\u2019ve been through. I think that\u2019s the beautiful thing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nobody knew it at the time, but one preseason practice foretold all. Back in the fall of 2024,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":568501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,473,325,686,149,4057,691,166,354,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-568500","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charlotte-hornets","10":"tag-college-sports","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-mavericks","13":"tag-dallasmavericks","14":"tag-duke-blue-devils","15":"tag-mavericks","16":"tag-mens-college-basketball","17":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115978513354675548","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/568501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}