The NBA had a premonition Cooper Flagg was bound for future superstardom long before he put on a Duke jersey. It was the NBA’s interest that convinced Flagg to reclassify, essentially skipping his senior year of high school to enroll in college at just 17 years old.

The 6-foot-9 freshman forward scored 42 points in Saturday’s victory over Notre Dame to set an ACC freshman single-game record. He went 11 of 14 from the floor, making 4 of 6 3-pointers, and hit 16 of 17 foul shots — with the 16 made free throws standing as a Duke freshman record.

Expectations are high for Cooper Flagg, mainly because of his exceptional combination of skills at such a young age, his history of success in youth competition and the projections