DURHAM – The hype train for Cooper Flagg is moving so fast, there was applause after he finished a 10-minute, 15-second press conference during Duke’s on-campus media day.

OK, calm down. It was just from one person, and that was fellow Duke newcomer Mason Gillis from the back of Bill Brill Media Room.

It remains noteworthy, though, that Flagg is on the verge of a season in which he’ll be under the brightest spotlight as the No. 1 freshman, lock as next summer’s No. 1 NBA draft pick — while playing for a program that’s no stranger to great expectations.

“I think as far as hype and all that goes, that’s something you learn to deal with,” Flagg said on Friday. “For me, it’s about just playing basketball, so I’m excited to get going with our team.”

That’s kind of the gist of things with Flagg.

Every indication — from what we know of his high school career to Duke’s video snippets to the way teammates and coaches talk about him — is that he meets the expectations that come with being a generational talent.

But when it comes to the fervent hype and expectations surrounding him, he’s more comfortable locking into basketball. There is understanding, not ignoring, what’s expected of him — and an eagerness to just perform when games matter.

“We talk about all the things we can control and that’s been our focus,” coach Jon Scheyer said. “Cooper does an amazing job of coming to practice to work every day.

“I don’t think he likes the attention, to be honest. I think he’s all about — he wants to be like the other guys, in terms of not caring about the attention, wanting to win, wanting to compete, and he’s done a great job of setting the tone for that.”

There were two Zion Williamson references during the roughly two hours of interviews. One was the gem of an anecdote from freshman Khaman Maluach, the South Sudanese 7-footer saying that when he tells his little cousins he’s at Duke, they don’t know what that means; but “when I tell them I’m at Zion Williamson’s school, they get it.”

And second, Flagg is entering Duke with a level of anticipation for a freshman we haven’t seen since Williamson’s phenomenon of a 2018-19 season.

The differences are there: Flagg is the No. 1-ranked recruit, whereas Williamson was No. 5 (and behind classmates RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish). One will benefit from NIL; we’re left to ponder the vastness of how much Williamson could’ve raked in in sponsorship money during his one season.

And where there is some similarity tied in: Williamson’s profile exploded when Duke took a summer exhibition trip to Canada; Flagg’s summer explosion occurred when he was practicing against Team USA before the eventual Olympic gold-medal winners departed for Paris.

Scoring against the likes of Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo, even on UNLV’s practice court, is going to attract plenty of attention.

“There’s always eyes, like, everywhere that we’re going,” Flagg said. “Around campus when we first got here, some of the students even, were kind of going crazy.

“But to me. … I just take it as a compliment, try and be respectful even if I’m not in the best mood or I’m not having the best day, I just try and be respectful.”

You can attach all of the superlatives — best, most important, most skilled, etc. — on Flagg, but there’s another category where he’s the leader that shouldn’t be forgotten.

He is the youngest player on the team, the product of reclassifying. Flagg won’t turn 18 until Dec. 21, the same day the Blue Devils are playing at Georgia Tech.

That’s why, perhaps, it’s unsurprising to see his parents in the back of the media room after his press conference wrapped up. Ralph and Kelly Flagg were also at Friday afternoon’s practice, which was open to the media for a brief window.

And there was Cooper Flagg, on the far court, working into shooting drills with teammates — a 17-year-old phenom doing his best to blend as a basketball player at Duke.