• After his very first college basketball game, Duke’s Cooper Flagg became the Wooden Award favorite for national player of the year
• Flagg had 18 points, seven rebounds, and five assists in a 96-62 rout of Maine
• See the latest 2025 Wooden Award odds after the opening night of the season

It took all of one game for oddsmakers to start truly believing in the legend of Cooper Flagg. The Duke freshman, who was the #1 recruit in the nation this year, was already a top-five favorite in the 2025 Wooden Award odds before ever setting foot on an NCAA floor. One game into his college career, he’s the new chalk to win player of the year.

2025 Wooden Award Odds

Flagg improved from +900, on average, to +665 overnight. He’s the outright favorite at both DraftKings (+600) and FanDuel, where he’s a wildly short +430. 

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Odds as of November 5 at DraftKings. See which DraftKings deposit methods are available in your state. 

Flagg Dominates in Season-Opener Against Maine

Though he hasn’t even hit his 18th birthday, Flagg looked like a men among boys at times on Monday night. The 6’9 wing displayed his excellent handle all night and finished 6-of-9 from inside the arc plus 6-of-6 from the line, where he’s likely to be a lot this season.

He finished with 18 points, seven boards, and five dimes in 30 minutes during a 96-62 rout of Maine.

The only real criticism coming out of Monday’s win was that Flagg was shutout from beyond the arc (0-of-4).

One of the bigger concerns for anyone backing Flagg as the national player of the year is the potential star power of fellow freshman Kon Knueppel. The #19 recruit out of Milwaukee, Knueppel led the Blue Devils in scoring (22 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 3-of-8 from three) while adding four rebounds and two assists in 32 minutes.

It’s always harder to win an individual award when your team has multiple superstars, which Knueppel could be. Of course, that didn’t stop Zion Williamson from winning as a freshman, the same year RJ Barrett led the Blue Devils in scoring.

Dickinson Picks Up Where He Left Off

Preseason favorite Hunter Dickinson did nothing to dissuade oddsmakers that he’s going to be an absolute beast this season. The fifth-year senior is coming off a 17.9 PPG, 10.9 RPG season last year and he started his final campaign with 16 points, six rebounds, three steals, two blocks, and one assist in just 21 minutes during an 87-57 demolition of Howard on Monday night.

While Kansas has plenty of talent, it was an unusually poor recruiting year for Bill Self and company. The Jayhawks only have one top-20 recruit (center Flory Bidunga, who will backup Dickinson) and two in the top 50, per ESPN. Dickinson could still be fighting his teammates for the limelight, though. Self grabbed two of the top transfers in the nation in the form of Wisconsin’s AJ Storr and South Dakota State’s Zeke Mayo, who had a team-high 19 points in the win over Howard.

Kansas starts the season as the #1 team in the nation in both the AP and Coaches Polls. If Dickinson can keep there there, it certainly won’t hurt his chances of winning the Wooden Award.

The other top-four favorites, North Carolina’s RJ Davis and Alabama’s Mark Sears, both got off to strong starts, as well. Davis had 24 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in a 90-72 win over Elon in Chapel Hill. Sears had 20 points, three rebounds, and one assist in just 20 minutes of action during the Tide’s 110-54 decimation of UNC Asheville.

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