March Madness starts this week and several teams believe they can win it all. Two of those teams are the Duke Blue Devils and the Auburn Tigers.
Cooper Flagg is the freshman sensation for the Blue Devils and Johni Broome is an experienced player for the Tigers. On Tuesday, Flagg and Broome were named consensus first-team All-Americans in 2024-25. Both are finalists for National Player of the Year in 2024-25.
Johni Broome and Cooper Flagg were named consensus first-team All-Americans
🚨 AP All-America First-Team
🏀 Johni Broome
🏀 Cooper Flagg
🏀 Mark Sears
🏀 Walter Clayton Jr.
🏀 Braden Smith pic.twitter.com/x1hBc10Wu2— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 18, 2025
The path to becoming a first-team All-American in 2024-25 came differently for Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome. Flagg is 18 years old and Broome is 22. In 2020-21, Johni Broome started his career at Moorehead State. He played two seasons for the Eagles before he transferred to Auburn. Broome has played his last three seasons with the Tigers and is playing in his final year of eligibility. In 31 games, Broome is averaging (18.9) points (10.6) rebounds, (3.1) assists, and (2.3) blocks per game.
He started his career at Morehead State and has worked his way to becoming a consensus All-American. Broome and the Tigers got the consensus #1 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. On the flip side, Cooper Flagg was projected to be in this posistion. The 18-year-old reclassified in high school so he would be eligible for the 2025 NBA draft. Flagg has been on the path to stardom for years now and he’s fulfilling that with the Duke Blue Devils.
As a freshman, Flagg has played in 32 games and is averaging (18.9) points, (7.5) rebounds, (4.5) assists, (1.5) steals, and (1.3) blocks per game. He shoots (.368) percent from beyond the arc and has been Duke’s best player all season. Along with Johni Broome, Cooper Flagg has been named a consensus first-team All-American. Flagg is dealing with an ankle injury and is expected to miss at least the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils play the winner of the play-in game between American/Mount St. Mary’s.
