Cooper Flagg Made Some Serious Bank While At Duke

We knew he did well, but this well? Wow.

When there was a news boomlet about Cooper Flagg possibly staying, we argued that his income at Duke might be comparable to his income as an NBA rookie. It was more of a hunch than specific knowledge, but as it turns out, Flagg did very well at Duke last season.

Very well indeed.

The first pick in last year’s draft, was estimated to make $10.5 million. There are a lot of variables, but that’s in the ballpark.

Well, last year at Duke, Flagg pulled in $28 million.

This is according to sports journalist Howard Bryant, who says his New Balance deal was worth $13 million and his Fanatics deal was for $15 million.

And he forgot Gatorade, Cort Furniture and The NIL Store.

The CBS article above says that “...Howard’s reported total is likely Flagg’s NIL contracts in totality and not an annual payment.“

It’s not clear.

What is clear though is that he did really, really well while he was at Duke and for the elite players, college basketball may be financially competitive with their first pro contract.