SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD COOPER FLAGG had not yet played a single game for Duke when he walked into UNLV's Mendenhall Center on the afternoon of July 8, 2024.

But he piqued the curiosity of the future Hall of Famers preparing for the trip to Paris to play for Team USA in the 2024 Olympics.

Flagg had been the most hyped and anticipated American high school prospect since LeBron James , who was the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft more than three years before Flagg was born. James and the rest of Team USA were quite familiar with Flagg's name, if not yet his game.

It had been more than a decade since an amateur had been invited to play for the Team USA select squad. Doug McDermott and Marcus Smart were accomplished collegians when they received the call in 2013.

This scrimmage at Team USA

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