One of college basketball’s highest-paid players last season, former Duke star Cooper Flagg’s estimated NIL contracts were staggering, according longtime sports journalist and author Howard Bryant. During a recent sitdown with Bob Costas at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Howard asked his co-host how much much Flagg earned in NIL at Duke.
Costas was unsure, but then Howard provided an answer that resulted in an audible gasp from the audience — $28 million.
“He had a $13 million deal with New Balance and then $15 million with Fanatics,” Bryant said at the 51:09 mark of the conversation.
Here’s the thing — Howard’s reported total is likely Flagg’s NIL contracts in totality and not an annual payment. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski previously reported Flagg’s New Balance agreement was “significant.” These are often multi-year contracts between incoming rookies and sneaker companies.
Flagg’s massive deal with New Balance ahead of his first season in the NBA makes him one of the brand’s newest signature athletes. Flagg signed his multi-year partnership with Fanatics in January, but terms of the deal were not released.
Other exclusive Fanatics athletes include Victor Wembanyama, Paul Skenes, and CJ Stroud. Flagg’s first “rookie” card is part of the 2025 Bowman University Chrome set, which is put out by Fanatics.
Flagg’s previous estimated NIL valuation of around $5 million with the Blue Devils during his only season of college basketball was the leading number in the sport, so to think he was bringing in more than five times that number in a single season is almost unfathomable.
Regardless, the market value for the projected No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft is real.
Flagg earned national player of the year accolades last season after averaging a team-best 19.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, leading Duke to the NCAA Tournament’s final weekend.
Costas used Howard’s staggering figure to get on his soap box of sorts to make a broader point.
“That’s why, at least, it’s more profitable for a woman … a female college basketball player to stay in college and collect the NIL because, because for the time being, the top salary in the WNBA is like $75,000,” Costas said. “Now, it will go up a bit and if you’re Caitlin Clark it doesn’t matter and a few others because their deals carry over, but something that used to always bothered me when this convesation was going on before NIL, people would say, ‘Everybody is profiting off of this except for the athletes.’
“That implicitly says this whole thing is a sham and that the education itself has no value. So, if this student-athlete attends class, he could very well be sitting next to someone whose parents worked multiple jobs to put that boy or girl and their siblings through college. (And) that’s something that might be a present, at some universities worth on a four-year ride, $300.000. Not to mention what it means down the road for your earning power.”
Costas later said fans who are disparaging NIL numbers were “okay with the corruption” but not okay with the chaos these figures have caused in recruiting and player retention.
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