Former Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg has the support of his passionate family by his side as he prepares for life in the NBA.
Flagg, 18, is the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, meaning the reigning National Player of the Year will hear his name called by the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, June 25, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
After a sensational freshman season at Duke, Flagg officially declared for the Draft in April.
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“Duke fans, my teammates, the brotherhood, everybody that was along for the journey, it was an incredible year, probably the best year of my life and I have so much gratitude and I feel so blessed for all the opportunities that I was given,” Flagg said in a video released via social media. “Duke has always been a dream for me, but I’m excited to announce that I’ll be entering my name into the 2025 NBA Draft.”
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He added, “Today is just the beginning, but I have the Brotherhood with me for life.”
In addition, Flagg has his basketball-obsessed family — dad Ralph, mom Kelly, brother Hunter, 20, and fraternal twin brother, Ace, 18 — to thank for guiding him on his path.
Tragically, Ralph and Kelly lost Hunter’s twin brother, Ryder, when they were both born premature at just 24 weeks.
“I don’t really remember a moment when I was told or anything like that,” Cooper told the Raleigh News & Observer in December 2024. “It’s just been something that has always meant a lot in our family. We’ve talked about it very generally for my whole life. It’s kind of just been something terrible that my parents went through, and Hunter.”
For more on the Flagg family, keep reading.
Cooper Flagg’s dad, Ralph Flagg
Ralph attended Nokomis Regional High School in Newport, Maine, before playing college basketball at Eastern Maine Community College.
“Just because we don’t produce the big D1 athletes as much as those other states do, people don’t think basketball is as big [here],” Ralph told The Athletic in February 2024. “But it really is.”
After graduating, Ralph met Kelly — a fierce basketball player herself — while he was playing in a rec league with Kelly’s father.
“That was kind of where we met,” Ralph told The Athletic. “On a basketball court.”
The couple eventually began playing against each other, with Ralph recently recalling how Kelly would dominate him with her up-and-under move.
“She was pretty deadly with that,” Ralph told ESPN in November 2024.
When Cooper and his twin brother, Ace, were 15 years old, their supreme basketball talent meant it was time to leave Maine.
After the boys were recruited by the prestigious Montverde Academy in Florida, the entire family picked up and moved to the Sunshine State.
“It was a hard decision because we’re so close to the rest of our community, but at the same time, this is where we needed to be: with our kids,” Ralph told The Athletic. “Moving down here was probably the best decision we’ve made. Just to be here with them, and not lose those last couple of years that we do have with them.”
Cooper Flagg’s mom, Kelly Flagg
During Cooper’s one-and-done season at Duke, Kelly made almost just as much a name for herself as her son.
Kelly became an often vocal — and sometimes confrontational — supporter in the stands decked out in blue and white.
After Duke defeated rival North Carolina earlier this month, Kelly called Tar Heels fans “classless a-holes” in a viral Facebook post.
In an exclusive interview with Us Weekly in March, Kelly joked, “I can tell you the Carolina fans are very upset and unhappy every time they see me on the screen.”
Kelly also attended Nokomis Regional High School before a celebrated basketball career at the University of Maine.
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She went on to coach the varsity girls’ basketball team at her high school alma mater.
“I’ve learned that people shouldn’t mess with Mama Bear,” Kelly told Us about her passion. “Mama Bear definitely can come out, even when I don’t want it to. Sometimes I can’t help it.”
She added, “Cooper used to go with me to school before it started when I was teaching and he would shoot. He wanted to be in the gym at 6 a.m. and shoot an hour before school when he was in 6th, 7th, 8th grade. He’s always put so much into it that people don’t see.”
Cooper Flagg’s older brother, Hunter Flagg
Hunter played basketball at Nokomis Regional High School after a childhood filled with competitive games in the family driveway with his two younger brothers.
“Someone was always bleeding,” Kelly told ESPN in November 2024.
When twins Cooper and Ace eventually joined Hunter on the Nokomis boys’ team their freshman year, the school took home its first state title.
Hunter is currently a junior at the University of Maine majoring in Sports Management.
Cooper Flagg’s fraternal twin brother, Ace Flagg
Ace will begin his collegiate basketball journey at the University of Maine this fall. (Cooper reclassified into the 2024 recruiting class so he could play for Duke last year, thus his head start.)
He announced his commitment to be a Maine Black Bear — the same school where his mom, Kelly, made a name for herself — in October 2024.
“Coming home,” he wrote via Instagram.
In February, Ace won his third consecutive high school state title in three different states: Maine, Florida and North Carolina.
Ace has been dating his girlfriend, Lizzy Gruber, a player on the Maine women’s basketball team, since October 2022.
Us Weekly
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