Cooper Flagg's grandmother wears custom sweater of Duke star to NCAA Tournament game

Ahead of Friday’s NCAA Tournament first-round game against Mount St. Mary’s, Duke superstar freshman Cooper Flagg is preparing to return to the court. One of his biggest fans in his grandmother is breaking out the heat to welcome him back from injury.

As he returns from a sprained ankle, Flagg will be able to look in the stands and see his grandmother cheering him on in an incredible custom sweater. Check out the fire below, as Duke shared it to social media ahead of its Round of 64 showdown. You don’t show up in that sweater to watch your grandson lose.

Coop's grandma bringing the absolute heat w/ the custom sweater 🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/tbDo3bY0T6

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 21, 2025

Now that’s how you support family, and support the Blue Devils. No. 1-ranked Duke (31-3) will be in action in the NCAA Tournament at 2:50 pm ET Friday against the 16th-seeded Mountaineers (23-12) out of the East Regional from the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, NC. The 6-foot-8 Flagg “will not be restricted in any way,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer told CBS’ Tracy Wolfson.

Moreover, Flagg’s status was in question after suffering an aforementioned sprained ankle in the first half of the Blue Devils’ ACC Tournament game against Georgia Tech a week ago Thursday, forcing the future No. 1 overall NBA Draft pick to miss Duke’s last two tournament games against North Carolina and Louisville. Duke announced on Thursday he would be available, but did not specify if he would play.

But after a week’s rest, Flagg will be back on the floor Friday afternoon as the Blue Devils begin NCAA Tournament play. Flagg is reportedly “pain-free,” according to ESPN insider David Hale, and has been trending in the right direction for the last few days.

Duke is a heavy favorite against 16th-seeded Mount St. Mary’s after being awarded the second No. 1 seed by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee. But a potential second-round matchup against the winner between No. 9 seed Baylor and No. 8 seed Mississippi State would not be easy without Flagg.

Getting him back on the court allows Duke to be at full strength. And not many teams have been able to take them down when at that level.

Cooper Flagg: ‘I feel really good’ ahead of NCAA Tournament

During a Thursday media availability, Flagg addressed his health status and confirmed he’d be ready to go against the Mountaineers after a week of rehab. That included Flagg practicing fully on Wednesday.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m feeling pretty good. We have an incredible team, incredible training staff. So we’ve been working through the steps of just getting back, getting to 100-percent,” Flagg told reporters Thursday. “I feel very good. I’m very confident moving forward.

“Yeah, so, I mean, from the start of the week, it was kind of like a build-up of jumping back into practice, um, getting back to 100-percent. Doing some individual things with some of the coaches on the side. And then I was back in full practice yesterday. So, I mean, I feel really good. I’m really confident about going 100-percent tomorrow.”

— On3’s Alex Byington contributed to this article.