Amid an impressive start to his freshman season at Duke, Cooper Flagg was projected to go No. 1 overall in the 2025 NBA draft to the Washington Wizards in an ESPN mock draft published Tuesday.

ESPN's Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo delivered their first 2025 NBA mock draft since the commencement of the 2024-25 college basketball season, and it comes as little surprise that several superstar freshmen are projected to dominate the draft.

Here is a rundown of the projected top 10 picks with Flagg and the Rutgers frosh duo of Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper occupying the top three spots:

1. Washington Wizards: Cooper Flagg, F, Duke

2. Utah Jazz: Ace Bailey, F, Rutgers

3. Toronto Raptors: Dylan Harper, G, Rutgers

4. Portland Trail Blazers: VJ Edgecombe, G, Baylor

5. Detroit Pistons: Nolan Traore, G, France

6. San Antonio Spurs: Kon Knueppel, F, Duke

7. San Antonio Spurs: Egor Demin, G, BYU

8. New Orleans Pelicans: Khaman Maluach, C, Duke

9. Brooklyn Nets: Tre Johnson, G, Texas

10. Charlotte Hornets: Liam McNeeley, F, UConn

Flagg has been considered the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft ever since he reclassified to play during the 2024-25 college basketball season, and he hasn't done anything to suggest he should be knocked from that perch.

Over his first two games with the Blue Devils, Flagg has done a little bit of everything, averaging 15.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.5 blocks per contest.

Duke is looking like the team to beat, and Flagg can go a long way toward cementing himself as the favorite to go No. 1 overall with a strong performance against No. 19 Kentucky on Tuesday night.

While Flagg has long been the headliner of the 2024-25 freshman class, Bailey has always been close behind, and he is lining up to be a spectacular consolation prize for the team that doesn't get the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft.

Bailey has missed Rutgers' first two games after suffering an injury in practice, which has paved the way for Harper to step up and put himself in the early National Player of the Year conversation.

Through two games, both of which were Rutgers victories, Harper is averaging 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 54.8 percent from the field.

Rutgers has missed the NCAA tournament in each of the past two seasons and has just two tourney appearances since 1991, but the Scarlet Knights could be championship contenders with Bailey and Harper leading the way.

Getting past a team like Duke won't be easy, though, as Givony and Woo project two other Blue Devils players aside from Flagg to be top-10 picks in the 2025 NBA draft.

Kon Knueppel is Duke's leading scorer thus far with 18.5 points per game, and Khaman Maluach has been a dominant force in the interior, averaging 8.5 points and 10.0 rebounds per contest.

Duke and Rutgers combine to make up half of the top 10 picks in ESPN's mock, and nine out of the 10 picks are collegiate freshman, which speaks to how strong this year's crop of newcomers is.

The only non-college freshman in the top 10 is French guard Nolan Traoré, which is a massive departure from the 2024 NBA draft.

Three Frenchmen came off the board over the first six picks in the 2024 draft, including the top two selections in Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr.

The 2024 NBA draft was considered one of the weaker ones in recent memory in terms of top-end talent, and while the jury is still out on that narrative, the 2025 draft does look to be much deeper and more chock full of potential superstars.