Houston ruined a fairytale ending, rained on Duke’s parade, and all that jazz. To be honest? We still can’t believe what happened during Saturday’s Final Four matchup. No one expected Cooper Flagg and Jon Scheyer to choke a fourteen-point lead with only eight minutes left, but there’s a reason they call it March Madness! The fans of Flagg, however, would rather it not. Yes, he is poised for a long NBA career, but going out of the storied program without a ring? The jabs are being directed elsewhere.
Cooper Flagg and his Blue Devils fell prey twice to the kill-stop tactics of Houston, with Walter Clayton Jr. putting on an absolute clinic from deep! Duke joins a considerably long list of teams that were sent home by the six-foot-three point guard’s heroics. But even in the dying embers of the game, they had a shot at victory.
With eight seconds left, and a one-point deficit, Flagg had the ball in his hands. The six-foot-nine phenom from Maine has dominated this entire season, and when he was backing down J’Wan Roberts? Well, Blue Devils fans still had hope. But the shot hit the front rim, and before we knew it, Duke was out of championship contention.
The NCAA community, however, was unforgiving of this upset. People called out Jon Scheyer for losing out on such a lead and Cooper Flagg for not being able to guide his team to the championship game. He had a shot, he just couldn’t make it. With that went Scheyer’s shot at scripting history– winningest coach in the first three years on a job in the history of college basketball.
His 89-21 record was already tied for the most wins record, and just a win more would even propel him where Coach K hadn’t reached. That’s the caliber the HC has presented in the past three seasons. He has gone on to sign back-to-back no.1 recruiting classes, make a tournament appearance in all three, and had people believe Duke was the best team through March Madness 2025. But the Blue Devils fumble one game, and fans are looking for a better-suited coach for the freshman talent.
This one narrative stems from Flagg’s high-school days, now sparked by Duke’s 70-67 loss to Houston. A team that had looked unbeatable for 3 quarters could manage only one field goal in the last 10:30 minutes. The Blue Devils had the height advantage to go with their top defense and absolute beast in their freshman class. But not everyone showed up. A mere 4 points came from the bench, and Houston coach Kelvin Sampson knew Flagg wasn’t going to win them the game alone, and he seemed prepared for it.
“I felt like if we could just hang in there, even when we were down 14, these guys will tell you what I was talking about in the huddle: Just hang in there, hang in there,” the Cougars HC had asked of his team, and they did not let him down. Duke fell short, Schaeyer fell short, and history was being dug up of the freshman sensation.
The Montverde alum had his commitment narrowed down to practically two schools: Duke, as we know, and UConn. Following the results, fans now opine, he would have been much more successful with the reigning champs!
Fans call out Cooper Flagg for ditching Storrs
Even with Duke’s Final Four loss, there’s no doubt that Cooper Flagg lived up to every individual expectation that was set for him. The Maine Event came into Division I basketball, and he dominated! Flagg led Duke in every major statistical category the entire season, putting up monstrous scores on a weekly basis. However, the fans feel like he was wrong for choosing Duke.
Social media, as expected, went wild after Duke’s upset loss to Houston on Saturday. But there was one portion of the college basketball community that was advocating for something quite unique: for Cooper Flagg to don the Huskies jersey.
UConn supporters rubbed salt into Flagg’s fresh wounds online. “If Cooper Flagg chose UConn over Duke he’d be in the championship game.” A user said on X, and it was definitely a common sentiment! “Cooper Flagg definitely should’ve went to UConn.” Another fan tweeted, but there’s some backstory behind all of the call-outs.
If Cooper Flagg chose UConn over Duke he’d be in the championship game
— Lucky (@L7ckys) April 6, 2025
Cooper Flagg heading to Storrs wasn’t as big of a pipedream as Duke fans make it out to be nowadays. The truth is, the six-foot-nine point-forward was quite close to becoming a Husky! He went on an official visit to Storrs in September 2024, a month before committing to Duke. According to most sources at the time, Flagg loved what UConn had to offer him!
And fans now believe he would have been much better off playing under Dan Hurley. “If Cooper Flagg would have slid to UConn they would have won 3 strait nattys, but it is what it is.” With 6 new faces on the roster and lack of physicality that Hurley so often liked to point out, it isn’t all too far fetched a sight to imagine it a win-win situation.
“Cooper Flagg wins the natty with UConn btw,” opined another.
Other fans, however, phrased it as more of a ‘you snooze, you lose’ kind of a situation for the Duke star. One supporter in particular mentioned the NPOY in his tweet. “@Cooper_Flagg you know, if you had chosen UConn, you might have had more success. Just sayin’.”
A championship would have been the perfect end to a one-and-done collegiate career for Cooper Flagg. It would put him a tier above the previous #1 overall picks from Duke–Zion, Paolo–and show that he has what it takes to win at the highest level. That’s not to say that he isn’t a winner, but missing a game-winning jumper has some fans disappointed beyond belief. There’s still no confirmation as to whether Cooper Flagg will stay at Duke for another season, but we’d recommend for you to not get your hopes up.
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