Duke star Cooper Flagg won his second major award in two days when he received the Naismith Trophy as the national player of the year on Sunday.
One day earlier, Flagg won the Wooden Award.
Flagg became just the fourth freshman to win the Naismith Trophy, which is presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The others are Texas’ Kevin Durant (2007), Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2012) and Duke’s Zion Williamson (2019).
The same quartet are the only freshmen to win the Wooden Award.
Flagg’s latest award was announced in San Antonio, one day after the Blue Devils lost 70-67 to Houston in the Final Four.
“This is an incredible honor and I am truly grateful for the recognition,” Flagg said. “This whole year, this (NCAA) tournament, has gone by so fast. It’s been a blur and an incredible year. I have to give a lot of credit to my teammates, Coach (Jon) Scheyer, the rest of the staff and everyone who had me ready to go every single night. They believed in me and let me be me out there on the court.”
Flagg emerged as the favorite for the award over the second half of the season. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 37 games.
The other finalists were Auburn’s Johni Broome, Florida’s Walter Clayton Jr. and Purdue’s Braden Smith.
Among Flagg’s other accolades are being named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year as well as being a consensus first-team All-American.
Flagg is expected to be the No. 1 choice in the NBA draft if he chooses to enter his name.
Rick Pitino was named the Werner Ladder Coach of the Year award after leading St. John’s to a 31-5 record in his second season at the school.
The 31 wins matched the school mark reached twice in the mid-1980s.
The Red Storm received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament before exiting in the second round with a loss to Arkansas. The first-round victory over Omaha was the school’s first NCAA tourney win since 2000.
“I’m truly honored to be the recipient of the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year award, especially with the incredible coaching of the other finalists this past season,” the 72-year-old Pitino said. “I want to thank my players and coaches for making this possible after a historic season for St. John’s Basketball. I am also grateful to the Atlanta Tipoff Club and the Naismith Awards selection committee for this prestigious honor.”
The other finalists were Auburn’s Bruce Pearl, Houston’s Kelvin Sampson and Scheyer.
Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner won Naismith Defensive Player of the Year honors. The senior blocked 93 shots this season while winning Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors for the fourth straight season.
Kalkbrenner also averaged 19.2 points and 8.7 rebounds and shot 65.3 percent from the field this season.
“It is a huge honor to be named Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and I am most appreciative to my teammates, coaches and the Atlanta Tipoff Club for recognizing our success,” Kalkbrenner said.
Houston’s Joseph Tugler and two Tennessee players — Jahmai Mashack and Zakai Zeigler — were the other finalists.
–Field Level Media
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