By Louis Fernandez, WRAL Sports

Duke men’s basketball needs to win two games this week to take home a national championship for the sixth time in program history. If the Blue Devils make it all the way, Kelly Flagg, the mother of star freshman Cooper Flagg, says she’ll get a tattoo to “commemorate” the occasion.

“What I said was, if we win the whole thing, no I shouldn’t say ‘if,’ I don’t like that word. When we win the whole thing, then we’ll make our plans to get a tattoo,” Kelly Flagg said on Friday prior to the team’s game against Houston in the Final Four.

Flagg wouldn’t be the only one, she says it’s a “pact” the moms have made.

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer noted the team parents have been incredibly supportive this year. They’ve even played off of Duke’s slogan for its program, “The Brotherhood” and turned it into “The Motherhood” and “The Fatherhood.”

“You see after games, you hear when parents are rooting for their own kids, for other kids like they’re their own, it’s had such an impact on our guys with how they cheer for each other, how they want each other’s success,” Scheyer said on Friday. “I think that’s harder and harder to find now. Our parents, moms especially, have popped.”

Scheyer was asked if his wife or mother would join “The Motherhood” in getting a tattoo. He laughed and said he would consider getting one if the team won a national championship.

“I shouldn’t have said that because that is going to come back to me now,” he joked.

Cooper Flagg’s parents express excitement before Final Four

Kelly and Ralph Flagg, Cooper’s father, have spent much of the past year living in Greensboro.

“We’re around a lot, we’ve been pretty visible and there are a lot of teammates whose parents maybe live far away,” Kelly Flagg said.

“I have really beat the drum that I’m like their mom when their mom isn’t here, I try to fill that role for the boys, whether they just need a hug or some reasurrance,” she said.

Cooper was named the AP men’s college basketball player of the year on Friday. He’s the youngest player to ever receive the honor. Flagg turned 18 years old in December 2024. As one might expect, his parents are proud of his accomplisments in basketball, but especially the way he’s stayed true to himself through his sports stardom.

“Making sure Cooper is a good person, all of those traits that he has on the court, I think are overshadowed for me by who he is off the court. He really is a kind, caring, compassionate person,” Kelly Flagg said.

“You know you’re going to be in that limelight and in that spotlight a lot, so we knew he was going to need those personality traits in order to get that far,” Ralph Flagg said.

Source: wralsportsfan.com