Cooper Flagg shares special connection his jersey number has with Donovan Clingan

Cooper Flagg wore a No. 32 jersey throughout his high school career, and the Duke freshman recently revealed the significance behind the number. Speaking on The Brotherhood Podcast, he explained that the number is actually a way of honoring the mother of Donovan Clingan, who is a family friend.

Most know that Clingan, who won two national titles at UConn in 2023 and 2024, also wore No. 32 in memory his mother, Stacy, who died from breast cancer in 2018. That was the number that she wore in both high school and college at the University of Maine.

Flagg’s mother also wore No. 32 in high school and was the college teammate of Stacy Clingan. So while he initially began wearing the number for his mom, it later took on added significance.

“My mom had worn it in high school and then her teammate in college, Donovan Clingan’s mom, had also worn it and she had passed away,” Flagg explained. “So I think I started wearing it because (my mom) wore it originally. Then going forward, having heard that story and learned that, it gave me more of a reason to want to wear it. Just having that reason of my mom’s teammate and wearing that number, it kind of just made me feel good about it. I just fell in love with the number.”

Unfortunately, Flagg will not be able to continue wearing No. 32 at Duke. The Blue Devils retired the number in 1992 to honor Christian Laettner, who led them to their second straight national championship that season. His famous buzzer beater in the Elite Eight against Kentucky from that year is widely regarded as one of the most iconic plays in NCAA Tournament history.

The five-star freshman will instead wear No. 2 in his opening season in Durham. He is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and has the star power to lead Duke to another special season.

Flagg played for Montverde Academy (FL) in high school and even was chosen as one of 15 players to train with Team USA this summer as they prepared for the Olympics. He ranked as the No. 1 overall player in the 2024 cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Now he’ll be wearing a different number in college, much like his mom did at Maine, as he attempts to make his lone season at Duke a memorable one.