The No. 3 Duke Blue Devils further solidified their status as a national title contender with a 110-67 blowout victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in a marquee late-season non-conference tilt that caught everybody’s attention across college basketball.
The 43-point defeat for Illinois was the most lopsided loss in school history, and left Illini coach Brad Underwood with no other choice but to heap praise on Duke star Cooper Flagg, who scored 16 points, while adding seven rebounds and five assists in 23 minutes of action.
“I hope he stays in school,” Underwood said wishfully after the game. “I mean, if I’m the NCAA or the ACC, I’m figuring out an NIL deal to keep that dude in school, because he’s everything that’s right about our game. Somebody threw out some story about it. I hope he stays. Man, he’d be great. He could probably make more here than he could in the NBA. He’s also got really good people around him, and that helps.”
Depending on the NIL deal relative to what Flagg could make on a rookie contract in the NBA, Underwood might be right. At least in the near term, Flagg could make more money in NIL than on a rookie deal at the next level. But in the long-term, there’s obviously no question that Flagg will make more money as a professional.
So why stay in school? Underwood added a great quote to his previous praise of Flagg.
“He’s 18. He’s just an 18-year-old kid,” Underwood added. “Go have fun. Chase a girl. I mean, just enjoy the opportunity. I get the whole thing. That’s slotted, he’s going to make what he is. And I’m speaking just completely randomly. I don’t know the kid or the family. But gosh darn, man. I’m excited about college basketball.”
Duke improved to 24-3 on the season and 15-1 in ACC play. The Blue Devils remain in contention for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament next month.
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