Mother of Duke basketball recruiting target dishes out advice
Maine native Cooper Flagg is shining in his first season with national powerhouse Montverde Academy (Fla.). The 6-foot-8, 195-pound small forward, who grew up a Duke basketball fan and has unfairly drawn comparisons to Larry Bird, is one of only three high school sophomores holding an early offer from the Blue Devils.
And the five-star ranks No. 2 overall on the 247Sports 2025 Rankings. He sits below only Christopher Columbus High School (Fla.) five-star power forward Cameron Boozer, who, along with his twin brother, five-star combo guard Cayden Boozer, round out Duke's offer sheet in the cycle.
With all that in mind, it'd be understandable if Cooper Flagg bordered on cocky these days, particularly when putting his array of advanced moves on full display. But his mother, who played Division I basketball for Maine, seems set on preventing prep success from going to her son's head.
Case in point: On Wednesday, after a highlight of Cooper Flagg's powerful dunk on an opposing player's head from Montverde's season-opening 101-28 win began circulating on Twitter, Kelly Flagg perhaps embarrassed her son with a semi-viral tweet of her own.
"Mom's thoughts-I don't love the stare down," she tweeted about her son's intense look following the slam. "Let your game do the talking. I know they all do it, but I don't like it. I appreciate that the kid at least made the attempt to stop it."
In the comments under her tweet, not everyone sided with her and those praising her. Someone took issue with the fact that former Loyola Marymount head coach Max Good claimed to agree with Kelly Flagg's advice yet noted his admiration for Larry Bird's toughness on the court back in the day.
Kelly Flagg's response to that was hilarious.
"Not really," she wrote about the opinion that Good's point about Flagg was a moot one if he still praises Bird despite the Boston Celtics legend's competitive flare as a player. "When Cooper is in the league, he can talk all the trash he wants!"
Even funnier, Cooper Flagg's older brother, Hunter, dared to disagree with their mom mockingly.
"Brother thoughts-Dunk and Stare down were both badass," he tweeted.
Mom didn't respond to that — at least not in public.
None of the 2025 Duke basketball targets have announced finalists or provided a timeline for their recruitment.
Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country for more Duke basketball recruiting updates.