At 23, Caitlin Clark is already a cultural icon. Could an 18-year-old Cooper Flagg match her motion?
It’s hard to go anywhere without seeing Clark’s name and image. From endless covers of magazines to commercials, her oven line of breakfast cereal, Clark is an A-list celebrity who helped make women’s basketball a viable product to a national audience.
While speaking to Dan Dakich of OutKick, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood tabbed Flagg as capable of garnering the same hype Clark did through her rise at Iowa to her WNBA stardom with the Indiana Fever.
“If Cooper Flagg stayed in school, he would be the face of college basketball and elevate basketball to the levels Caitlin Clark did on the female side,” Underwood said. “I don’t know him as a young man, but everything I have heard has been what a great guy he is. I think he’s a super talent. I love his mojo; I love his swag. He just carries himself in a way that exudes confidence; he’s really talented. If he stayed in school and has that Larry Bird swag, like, ‘You’re good, I get it, I see why.’ And then he backs it up.”
Flagg is the frontrunner for the Wooden Award and is the focal point of a Duke squad likely to earn a top seed in the tournament. He’s a lock to go first overall in June’s draft and is…
