Cooper Flagg’s Mom Has Heated Message for ‘Classless’ UNC Fans After Duke’s Win

Kelly Flagg said she was "taken aback by the crudeness of the UNC fans" on Saturday night.
Flagg stuffed the stat sheet against the Blue Devils' biggest rivals
Flagg stuffed the stat sheet against the Blue Devils' biggest rivals / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Duke beat UNC on Saturday, 82–69, and Cooper Flagg was once again the star of the show in the final regular season game of his freshman year. While the top NBA draft prospect didn't have a great night shooting he did stuff the stat sheet, posting 15 points to go along with nine rebounds, six assists, and four blocks.

The biggest highlight of the night came on a huge two-handed slam in the final minutes of the victory, complemented by a funny reaction shot of Flagg's parents freaking out in the stands. Specifically the cameras captured Flagg's mother, Kelly, emphatically making the "on his head" gesture.

On Sunday Mrs. Flagg addressed the viral clip in a Facebook post and, in the process, slammed the "classless" Tar Heels fans for the way she and her husband, along with Flagg and his teammates, were treated by the opposing crowd at the Dean Smith Center.

"It was a very intense situation we were put into and we were taken aback by the crudeness of the UNC fans as we made our way into the arena," Flagg said after apologizing for her NSFW language in the highlight reel clip. "They continued to harass us with much worse being spewed in our direction as well as our 18 year old son and his teammates throughout the entirety of the game. The celebration was a moment of being so proud of our kid and also a big F-you to the entire Carolina fan base for being such classless a-holes. If you are a UNC fan and didn't like it... tough! Better luck next time! Go Duke."

Certainly a strong message. It also may very well be the last time Kelly Flagg has to deal with Tar Heel fans. Her son Cooper is one of the best college players in the country this year and is a guaranteed top NBA draft pick if he declares. Should Flagg do so, he'll leave Duke with a perfect 2–0 record against the rival Tar Heels in regular season play.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.