Duke freshman ahead Cooper Flagg, the projected No. 1 choose within the 2025 NBA Draft, has signed a take care of New Steadiness, the attire firm introduced Monday.
The deal — which was first reported by ESPN — will make Flagg one in all New Steadiness’s signature athletes, seemingly together with a signature shoe. Flagg joins Kawhi Leonard, Jamal Murray and WNBA rookie Cameron Brink as one in all New Steadiness’s basketball headliners.
“I grew up sporting New Steadiness, and I recognize their genuine connection to my neighborhood. The main target and progress of the model in basketball and our shared values and historical past drew me in,” Flagg stated in a press release. “From day one, it was clear that this could be a family-like partnership. I’m so excited to affix this household and assist them develop the class with younger athletes.”
Cooper Flagg, The Clever Alternative. pic.twitter.com/JvvvMM9lfm
— New Steadiness (@newbalance) August 26, 2024
Selecting New Steadiness wasn’t only a skilled choice for Flagg, however a private one, too: the reigning Gatorade Nationwide Participant of the Yr and five-star recruit grew up simply 25 miles from New Steadiness’s manufacturing plant in Skowhegan, Maine.
Earlier than each new college 12 months, Flagg’s mom Kelly took him and his twin brother Ace to the manufacturing facility’s annual tent sale, the place they’d purchase a brand new pair of sneakers and backpack. To advertise Monday’s announcement, the corporate even shot promotional content material with Flagg in his hometown of Newport, Maine.
“Cooper provides a lot to our basketball roster, and we’re thrilled to welcome him to the New Steadiness household,” Naveen Lokesh, New Steadiness’s head of basketball sports activities advertising and marketing, stated in a press release. “He’s a drive to be reckoned with on the courtroom, and we stay up for constructing our relationship as he grows the sport and supporting him in all endeavors.”
Earlier than final season, Connecticut ladies’s star Paige Bueckers grew to become the primary school athlete with their very own signature shoe deal, after she signed an NIL contract with Nike. Now Flagg is the second, regardless of not having performed a single minute for the Blue Devils.
Whereas some school athletes have partnered with attire firms within the NIL period — Adidas signed 15 feminine collegians in the summertime of 2022, for instance, together with the fiftieth anniversary of Title IX — it’s nonetheless a relative rarity earmarked for sports activities’ high rising stars.
Flagg suits that mould, even when he’s but to look in school. Regardless of reclassifying as much as 2024, the 6-foot-9 ahead maintained the No. 1 recruiting rating within the class, and is anticipated to steer Duke in Jon Scheyer’s third season as head coach. Duke is No. 6 in The Athletic’s preseason top-25 rankings.
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(Photograph: Ethan Miller / Getty Pictures)
