Cooper Flagg Explains Spark to Longtime Duke Basketball Fandom

Duke basketball guard/forward Cooper Flagg will wear No. 2 in what looks certain to be a one-and-done college campaign. As a decorated prep, though, the 6-foot-9, 205-pound do-it-all phenom from Newport, Maine, who finished No. 1 overall on the 247Sports 2024 Composite and arrived in Durham as the featured talent in the Blue Devils’ six-deep, top-ranked freshman class, sported No. 32 while shining for powerhouse Montverde Academy (Fla.).

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Of course, No. 32 just happens to be the same digits that all-time Duke basketball great and back-to-back national champion Christian Laettner made famous in Cameron Indoor Stadium back in the early 1990s.

But Laettner’s greatness in a Duke jersey isn’t the reason Flagg once donned No. 32.

The 17-year-old explained that choice and the root of his childhood Blue Devil fandom in response to a question from Duke Blue Devils On SI during his debut on the stage at the Duke basketball preseason media event in Cameron on Friday:

“When I was younger, both of my parents were kind of Duke fans,” Cooper Flagg noted. “It was kind of always on TV. And I think it just was always a fun team to watch. So, like growing up, being a young kid, to see the top players from high school moving on to college, playing all on one team, like it was just really an exciting thing to watch. So, I think that is what I was attracted to, just watching really high-level teams…

“And as far as 32, it didn’t really have anything to do with Laettner. My mom wore No. 32 in high school also. So, I kind of just got it from that. And that’s kind of where that stemmed from.”

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