'The right team. The right coach.' Why Duke basketball has been all Cooper Flagg hoped.

DURHAM, N.C. — They watched their son grow into a basketball prodigy, armed with height and athleticism and skills few 18-year-olds possess.

Now Ralph and Kelly Flagg make the final road trip of Cooper Flagg’s lone college season, heading to San Antonio to watch Duke in the Final Four this weekend.

This is why Cooper Flagg decided to play for Jon Scheyer at Duke. He’s become the national player of the year, further strengthening his position as the likely No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA draft, and the Blue Devils have a national championship within reach.

“I had all the confidence in the world that Cooper could do this,” Kelly Flagg said, “with the right team and with the right coach. And we’re just very fortunate that that’s the situation.”

In the summer of 2023, with Flagg’s play on the Nike EYBL summer circuit having made him the nation’s hottest recruit, prevailing opinion was Duke would be tough to beat in the race to sign him.

Having reclassified with plans to finish high school in spring 2024, the 6-9 phenom made his official visit to Duke the weekend of Oct. 20. He’d been to Connecticut a month earlier, where the Huskies were coming off one NCAA championship — and would win another in 2024 under coach Dan Hurley.

But there was something about Scheyer and the bond he’d formed with Flagg that set Duke apart.

Last Saturday night, moments after Duke toppled Alabama, 85-65, to win the NCAA Tournament East Regional, Ralph Flagg stood on the Prudential Center court and recounted that official visit. He remembered a breakfast meeting at the Washington Duke Inn involving him and his wife, Scheyer, Duke general manager Rachel Baker and Cooper.

That’s when Cooper committed to Duke. But it was elsewhere on the trip, Ralph Flagg said, when Cooper made his feelings known without saying a word.

“There was a moment during the visit,” Ralph Flagg said, “I can’t really say specifically, but I mean, I know what the moment was. But he looked at us and winked, and we knew at that moment that was pretty much a done deal.”

From there, expectations for Cooper Flagg and Duke soared.

‘I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else’

The season, thus far, has met those expectations. Duke rolled through the ACC regular season with a 19-1 league record to win the ACC regular season. Even after Cooper Flagg suffered a scary ankle sprain during the ACC Tournament, the Blue Devils won the league title without him.

Ranked No. 1 in the nation, and with Flagg back in the starting lineup, they’ve rolled through four NCAA Tournament wins and need just two more wins for an NCAA title.

“It’s a surreal feeling being here,” Flagg said. “I think I can speak for myself and all these guys. These are the moments that you think about growing up, being in these big-time games, big-time moments together. It’s just a surreal feeling, and I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else.”

That last sentence appears to be a big key to Duke’s success. The Blue Devils are connected and enjoying every game, every practice and every minute as success in March propels them into April and the season’s biggest games. Scheyer’s approach is unmatched, Kelly Flagg said.

“The trust that he’s built with his players,” Kelly Flagg said. “They play for him as well. Also the fact that Jon Scheyer has walked this road. He’s been where they are. And so I think that’s a big piece of that, that they can rely on what he says, like, what his word is, because he’s done it. He’s a master.”

Now Duke stands among the other three national semifinalists, all four of them No. 1 seeds from the regional rounds. The best of the best from this season, with the best player, Cooper Flagg, on display.

‘Chance to make Duke history’

The bond among Duke’s players is strong. They’re connected with their coaches. Off the court, the players’ families are enjoying the ride as well.

“There are teams out there this year who had a lot of skill but didn’t build that kind of camaraderie,” Kelly Flagg said. “And I think right now, that’s the difference for us. And you see, not just with our kids, but we’ve built those relationships with the other parents, our moms group. We are top-tier moms. Like, we are the best in the country. I will stand on that, the greatest moms ever. This is the greatest group.”

It’s all come together, just as Cooper Flagg envisioned it would in October 2023. Just as Scheyer did last spring and summer when he put the roster together.

“I think,” Scheyer said, “it’s going even better than we could have imagined in terms of the personalities.”

The Blue Devils need two more wins to capture the ultimate prize. While Sion James, like Flagg, is in his first, and only, season with Duke, James has four previous years of college basketball at Tulane to use as perspective to teach the younger players.

“It’s not a guarantee by any means,” James said. “Just because we go to Duke or play for Duke doesn’t mean we’re going to be in the Final Four every year. It’s a grind. We had to work from the minute we got here to get to this position. But it’s really cool to know that we’re following in the footsteps of some of the Duke greats and have a chance to make Duke history.”